Hit the Ground Running
by Zero Rewind
Summary: After beating Kaguya, Sasuke finds himself stranded on another, unfamiliar world. What's an Uchiha to do, in that situation? No pairing decided, as of yet.
1. Where Am I?

**I've written a book!**

It's called ** **"The Dreg of Bellmead"** , **and it's a **Dark Fantasy novel!** It's part of a large **series** I am naming ****"Conduit"**.**

Here's the description!

 **Description:** Finding out there was a world of magic lurking right under his nose sounded like fun— until he made contact. Instead, Nevan has to fight for his survival in a world of monsters, blood sacrifice and death, as well as maintain his sanity when the voices of the souls he'd consumed begin to speak to him.

I've released it on **amazon,com/dp/B07XRVXXPB** ( **replace** the **comma** with a **period** , obviously)

Make sure to **review it on Amazon and Goodreads!**

You can also access it on my website: **samirka,xyz** ( **replace** the **comma** with a **period** again, haha)

Thank you so much! Now, on to the story!

I've always wondered how Sasuke would fare against the likes of Alexandria, Eidolon, or the Endbringers.

 **ooooooo**  
 **Hit The Ground Running  
A Naruto/Worm Crossover  
By Zero Rewind  
ooooooo**

It was a monumental battle.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki was everything Hagoromo purported her to be. She was more powerful than anything Naruto and I had ever faced— combined. Stronger than Obito, by far. Stronger than even Madara, whose body she was using to enact her plan to dominate the Elemental Nations through her worldwide Genjutsu, the Moon's Eye.

Between the ability to impair our movements, teleport us to different dimensions, use Six Paths Sage Chakra, manipulate her All-Killing Ash Bones and her Rinnegan, it was a wonder we'd even managed to tag her at all with the old man's Six Paths – Chibaku Tensei.

It was all thanks to Sakura— the girl who Kaguya underestimated; a "lowly" human.

But even in victory, nothing would ever happen so simply.

I felt a jarring pull on my body, and then, pure darkness.

No, it wasn't darkness, per se. I could still see myself, but the background was dark. At the same time, it wasn't. It made no sense, whatsoever.

Then came the pain.

It started out as a slight pressure converging all around me. It wasn't much stronger than a cool summer's breeze at first, but it started increasing. The breeze turned into a strong wind. The wind turned cutting.

Then, it became suffocating, squeezing me from all sides.

Unrelenting.

Always escalating.

The pain kept coming and coming. I hadn't taken a breath in the time I came to this strange, hostile realm, but I was somehow still alive. My body kept going, though it kept hurting. I faintly realized I was subsisting on Chakra alone, at this point.

How much longer would I have to deal with this? How long would I even survive?

That's when I saw them.

Two humongous, dark, worm-like creatures; they were circling me curiously. I could do nothing but stare at them. They were larger beyond anything I'd ever imagined. They made the Ten Tails look like an ant.

[ODDITY]

[AGREEMENT]

I couldn't hear them, not really. If I had to explain it, it would be more along the lines of a pressure created through extreme forces that resembled words. The pain increased tenfold as they began to focus a more-than-minuscule attention on me. Faintly, I realized the pain was coming from them. They were squeezing me, trying to kill me.

But, my body wouldn't give them a single inch. They could not overcome my Chakra.

[RESILIENT]

[AGREEMENT]

[STUDY]

[QUERY]

[ABSORPTION]

[AGREEMENT]

Anger coursed through me; they were just like Kaguya, then. I closed my left eye, gathering as much Chakra as I could to it. I realized these beings were made of Chakra, as well. Yet, they weren't absorbing my own.

Perhaps I was giving them too much credit, comparing them to the strongest being I'd faced up to this point. I began to absorb their own power, pulling in as much as I could manage— they were like endless wells, brimming with Nature Energy.

How long had they been alive?

[CONFUSION]

[POWERFUL]

[AGREEMENT]

[ALARM]

[TOO STRONG]

[TERMINATE]

[AGREEMENT]

I looked up as a large crystalline spear— twice as big as the mountains in which the Hidden Cloud Village lay— came down on me.

"Please work!" I found myself thinking as I opened my Rinnegan, unleashing all of the Chakra I'd restored in one strike.

Space bent. Dimensions shattered like so much glass. I closed my eyes.

Light began to fill the blackness, and I took in a sharp, delicious breath, faintly realizing there was air to breathe, now. I still felt weightless, though.

My left eye wouldn't open— understandable with all the Chakra I had used— though my right did, widening as it did so.

It was a city, easily bigger than anything I'd ever seen in my life, surrounded by mountains and hills from one side, and the sea on the other.

And I was falling right towards the water. Mind working quickly, I adjusted my body to minimize the damage, using what little Chakra I had left to strengthen my arms, chest and face. I took a deep breath.

The impact was strong enough to crack stone, but my limbs easily weathered the blow, enhanced with Chakra as they were. Twisting underwater so as to avoid the rocky bottom, I used the momentum to quickly propel myself upwards, reaching the surface in a few seconds.

I began to take stock of the situation.

What the hell had just happened?

One second, Naruto and I had finally used the Sealing technique on Kaguya, and the next, I was thrown somewhere else. Another dimension, it had to be.

Those creatures were nothing like I'd ever experienced, before.

Was it related to Kaguya? I kept floating in the water, thinking furiously, but not receiving any answers.

I couldn't be in the Elemental Nations. I spun around, realizing that I was floating in the midst of wrecked boats— huge metal things larger than any building I'd seen home. I rubbed at my neck, only to realize my shirt was gone.

I examined myself further. Riddled with the scratches and bruises from the fight against Kaguya, the rest of my clothes hadn't fared well, either. One of my sandals was gone, and the other was hanging by a single strap. My pants were torn in so many spots that it was a miracle it stayed on.

"I need to get to the shore." I muttered to myself and began to swim, not having enough Chakra to even stand atop the water, anymore. A minute later, I was on dry land.

I gingerly pulled my pants off, wringing all the water I could out of it.

"What's this, boys?" I heard voices coming from the warehouse before me as I was putting my pants back on. "Looks like we have a visitor."

I took a short breath and turned to the source of the sound.

It was a group of thugs. The warehouse they'd just come out of looked like a complete wreck— obviously long abandoned.

Ah, the city's criminal element, then.

They went to work quickly, didn't they? I'd barely gotten here.

"Think he's ABB?" One of them said, smacking a pipe against his hand in anticipation.

"Probably _was_." Another said, giving me a malicious grin. "Look at him. Probably couldn't follow orders, so they roughed him up and dumped him here with nothing on him."

The others laughed. I kept staring, their language was familiar to me, but it was not the spoken tongue of the Elemental Nations. Sometimes, foreign travelers came from the far north to the Land of Sound to trade with Orochimaru, and they spoke this tongue.

It was only natural that Orochimaru had me learn it. Though, I could already tell, there were plenty of nuances in their speech. I wasn't sure what "ABB" was, but it didn't take much to figure out that it was most likely a gang of some sort.

"Well, who are we to refuse such a gift?" The man in the center of the group stepped forward. His stench had hit me long before he began to speak— an odd smell of rot and alcohol.

I suppressed a twitch, and merely kept staring at them.

"Can this moron even understand a word we said?" The leftmost thug said, also approaching, giving me a condescending.

"Hey, chinky!" He slurred, extending a hand to grab my shoulder. "I'll say it real nice and slow so even a retard like you can understand. Tonight's not gonna be a nice night for y—GURK!"

 **Snap!**

The man screamed as he scrambled away from me, holding his broken wrist and falling over himself, into his friends. My hands went back to my side, and I stared at them again.

The one on the right took a step back, probably readying to leave.

"Surround him." The leader ordered. "Let's teach this punk a lesson. Six on one, he doesn't have a chance."

I wanted to sigh. Some people never learn.

Two of them went to my right, two went for my left, and the final two stayed in the center. The one with the broken wrist was already bolting as the other six lunged at me at the same time.

'Pathetic, I don't even need Sharingan for the likes of them', I thought as I easily wove my way around the first one's strike, grabbing his arm and pulling, sending him stumbling to the two on my right, which also had the added effect of closing the path to the two in the middle.

Which left the second poor sap to my left.

It took a single fist to the stomach, barely a love tap by my standards. The man went down, holding his stomach and trying, but failing, to take a breath. He passed out as the leader finally pushed his grunt out of the way, swinging a metal bat at my head.

I ducked underneath, grabbing his wrist and snapping it all the while. The man went down on his knees with a pained yell, trying to get my hand off with no luck.

The rest froze and stared.

I lifted the man slightly by the wrist, resting my other hand at his elbow. "Would you like for me to break this, as well?"

He said nothing, glaring at me hatefully.

"And perhaps, I'll go for your other arm, next." I gave a mirthless smile, before looking at the rest. "Scram."

They ran like the roaches they were, going back into the darkness of the abandoned warehouse, leaving me alone with the leader.

"Well, well." I looked back down at the nuisance. "What do I do with you?"

He looked like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it.

'I would hypnotize him with my Sharingan if I had the Chakra for it.' I mused as he began to quail under my emotionless gaze. 'Those beings were powerful; it took all I had to get away from them. I need to find somewhere to rest, and recuperate.'

I considered my options as the man began to beg for his life, having finally broken under my implacable aura. I could stay under the radar, robbing people and acquiring food and shelter, but that would be no way to regain my strength.

There was another way; it would be a bit more cumbersome, but I would be guaranteed a roof over my head, and food. Going to the police had its own set of problems, like "you just appeared out of thin air, who are you?"

I looked around, analyzing everything around me. I saw the homeless, hiding in whatever meager shelters they could find. The gangsters immediately accosting me spoke of a certain air of relaxation the criminal element maintained in this region.

This meant the police had their work cut out for them.

It also meant an unknown boy with no papers could likely easily slip through into their system. All I had to do was claim amnesia. It would be a hard sell, but I learned under Orochimaru, the master of infiltration, himself.

Kabuto, damn that man, was also forthcoming with a few of his skills during my training; half-truths, evasions, misdirection, and the like. He was able to go in every single village, almost completely undetected, for over a decade.

He was a shinobi worth the name, no matter how much I disliked him for daring to pull my brother from the Pure World.

I stared down at the man, my mind made up.

"Where's the nearest police station?" I asked, watching him pale significantly.

"No, not the cops!" He swore, trying to pull himself out of my grasp. "Anything but them!"

"I'm not turning you in." I said, staring at him and activating the Sharingan for the barest of moments. "You will lead me there."

Fuck, it was a heavy drain on what little reserves I had left, but it was necessary.

He slackened in my grip, nodding. I let go and watched him get to his feet. His stench was starting to become too much to bear, so I gestured for him to walk, waiting a few seconds before trailing after him.

That would get rid of most of it— unless a breeze carried his smell over.

I hoped it didn't.

The walk took almost two hours— my surroundings barely improved in appearance. The streets were empty, the moon overhead telling me that it was midnight. I glanced at it again, a few times.

The moon was smaller here, how odd. Another odd thing I noted was the abundance of vehicles. I'd seen a few, back home, but they were few, and far between.

There was no point, considering Ninja were much faster than their engines could ever hope to be.

I shook off these thoughts when the man finally stopped, pointing off to the side. It was a series of buildings with a few large driveways, with a few odd looking vehicles parked. It all looked very official, so I figured I was in the right place.

Problem was, the letters looked different than the language I had learned at the hands of Orochimaru.

I nodded to myself; this was the right move, after all. Judging by my age, I would likely be sent to civilian school, where I would have access to books and the like, which would allow me to learn the written language.

Besides, this would give the "amnesia" excuse plenty of credence.

"What does the sign say?" I ordered the man, still under my spell.

"Brockton Bay Police Department." He said monotonously.

Brockton Bay, so that's where I'd ended up. The name had no meaning to me, but I filed the words in for later anyway.

"You may go back to where we first met." I said, walking towards the station without giving him a second glance. "Goodbye."

He walked away, judging from the sound of his footsteps. I wondered when he would break out of the hypnosis— not that he'd remember a thing, of course. I'd become proficient with my eyes over the years, and the past day had taken me to a whole new level.

I sighed, pulled back to reality by my current situation.

I had very little Chakra left; enough for a single trick, perhaps. I dared to open my left eye.

No enhanced vision; it was deactivated, for now. It would make things easier for me, I thought as I pushed my way inside. The view that greeted me was familiar; a man wearing a blue uniform sat behind a counter, going through a large pile of paperwork.

I faintly remembered my father complaining about the endless bureaucracy of the Konoha Police Force, before pushing it to the side. Memories of an age long past would not help me here. There was a pale boy with a shaved head sitting on one of the many benches in this room, his parents hovering over him, scolding him in some way or the other.

He glared as I walked past.

How strange.

"Can I help you?" The police officer finally looked up tiredly from his paperwork, seeing the cuts, and bruises over my upper body, as well as the lack of shirt.

He got up abruptly, moving around his counter to get a better look.

"What the hell happened to you, kid?" He asked incredulously. "You look like you've been through hell and back."

You have no idea, I thought in amusement, before addressing the man.

"I don't know." I said, dipping my head and shaking in a textbook frightened pose. "I can't remember."

"You can't remember." He said, sounding dubious.

"No, I can't." I confirmed to him, forcing myself to babble like a crying baby. I hated every moment of it. "There were some criminals, and they kept hitting me, and I was so scared! I— I—"

"That's all right, son." Another police officer came in the lobby, having overheard us. "Come on, now. Let's get you settled in, see if we can make sense of what happened, yeah? I've got this one, Jones."

The receptionist-officer— Jones— nodded. "All right, sounds good Blakesley. Let me know if you need anything."

I nodded, faking a look of relief, and allowing the man to lead me inside. I followed him through the twists and turns, into a small room with a small table and a bottle of water standing at its center.

"Why don't you take a seat?" The officer— Blakesley— suggested kindly. "I'll have some food and a change of clothes for you in a bit. Does that sound good?"

"I— Yes." I maintained a hesitant look. It was even slightly true this time, as my cautious nature kept telling me whatever food they might have brought would be full of poison.

Years under Orochimaru tended to do that to you.

Trust was something you handed out very, very carefully.

"I'll be back in a bit, then." He said, giving me a smile. "Make yourself comfortable."

The officer gave me one final nod, as if to stress the importance of me staying here, before exiting the small room and closing the door behind him. I waited, using the time to assess what little Chakra I infused on the way to the Station.

I would likely have to use it again, depending on what sort of questions I would be asked. I took note of everything in the room, as stealthily as I could manage.

There was a security camera; I frowned.

The hypnosis would easily been seen, and at my current Chakra levels, there was no way I would be able to do anything overly complex. I stifled another sigh.

Minutes later, Blakesley came back, holding a tray full of food, and what looked to be gray pajamas under his arm. My nose twitched at the smell instant ramen; Naruto would like this.

I crushed any thoughts of my rival. Now was not the time.

I watched as he placed the food on one side of the table, before handing me the change of clothes.

"I'll give you a few moments to change, son." The man said, causing me to snort and glance at the camera in the corner.

"That thing doesn't work anyway." He said, scratching the back of his head. "We don't really use this room anymore; upper management doesn't want to fork over the money to repair it, and, well—" Blakesley grinned and stopped from saying anything further. "Not that you're interested in the tedium of the workplace, anyway."

I smirked at the man's humor, nodding in thanks for the clothes as he exited the room.

'So hypnosis might be an option, then,' I thought as I pulled my sandal off, as well as my torn pants. The new clothes were thankfully fresh, and clean, but were a size or two too big— better than nothing.

I called out for him, and he came back in, taking the seat opposite of mine. He pushed the tray forward, urging me to eat.

"This is technically against the rules," He started, smiling. "But you were hurt, so consider it my treat, yeah? Just don't tell anyone."

"Tell them what?" I asked flatly as I began to eat.

"That's the spirit." He grinned and took his hat off, revealing a receding hairline. "So, you don't remember anything? Nothing at all?"

I swallowed the noodles, relishing the food despite my dislike for it— I supposed I was that hungry.

"I can remember my name." I said, closing my eyes in 'thought'. "And what happened tonight. But I'm drawing blanks for anything before that. I have no idea what happened, sir."

"What's your name, son?" He pulled out a pen and paper to write it down.

"Sasuke." I said. "Sasuke Uchiha."

He started to scribble, but stopped midway, handing me the pen and notepad. "Could you spell that for me? I don't want to get it wrong."

I blinked, before looking down.

"I can't." I said, affecting a look of alarm as I stared down at his illegible notes. "What the hell? What the fuck happened to me!?"

The man in front of me reached forward and put his hand on my shoulder. "Calm down, son— Sasuke. We'll figure this out. I promise. I'm going to call this in now, so we can figure out what to do. You good to stay here a while longer?"

I made a show of calming down, giving him a nod as he left the room again. I had two bowls of instant ramen before sitting back and taking a deep breath.

This sort of deceit is something I hated to do, but was necessary. It was obvious that Officer Blakesley had a soft spot for kids out on the street, and I was making full use of it to further my own goals.

I decided then that I wasn't going to use the Sharingan on him. He did not deserve it.

I tried to think about what would happen, now. It was likely they'd call in some sort of specialist to figure out the extent of the 'amnesia'.

Half an hour passed, with nothing happening. I shifted in my seat every few minutes, beating down feelings of doubt, and whatnot.

It was after another half hour that the door opened again, revealing Officer Blakesley and two other people. One was a short, pale, pudgy woman in her late forties wearing a formal looking dress, holding a leather briefcase; while the other was a dark skinned, casually dressed man in his twenties— looked like he'd gotten dressed in a hurry.

"Mr. Uchiha." Officer Blakesley said, taking a seat in front of me, while the two others sat beside him. "I'm sorry it took so long, but seeing as it's the middle of the night…"

Ah, that's why the second man looked so disheveled; I'd interrupted his sleep.

I gave short bow in apology. "I'm sorry you had your sleep ruined, sir."

"Oh, oh," His disheveled and slightly annoyed look softened. "It's all right… Sasuke, that's your name, correct?"

"Yes." I confirmed, taking a deep breath and looking to the policeman.

"I've already told them everything you've told me." Officer Blakesley said, gesturing to the two. "This man is Doctor Blake Silverman; he's one of the doctors contracted to us. And, this is Ms. Jessica Hearsum; she works with CPS— Child Protective Services, pretty self-explanatory, yeah?"

"Hello." I said, giving a nervous look to the two.

"Hello, Mr. Uchiha." The Doctor said. "Or, should I call you Sasuke? Which do you prefer?"

I figured the 'Mr.', 'Doctor' and 'Ms.' were some sort of honorifics in this world.

"Sasuke is fine." I shrugged. "You think you can figure out what's wrong with me?"

"Well, that's what I'm here for, Sasuke." He grinned, making a show of relaxing in his seat. I saw right through it, of course; this was basic manipulation of the mood in the room; a method to take out the tension.

I gave a fake half-smile back; genuine to their eyes.

"I thought about it while I was waiting." I said slowly, looking down slightly, brows furrowed. "I can't remember how to read, or write. I tried thinking of any words I could write, but nothing came to mind. I didn't even know where to start."

Doctor Silverman frowned, pulling out a small booklet and writing into it, before looking back at me. "Tell me, what do you remember?"

"My name, like I said." He nodded, urging me to continue. "I remember what happened tonight, but nothing before that."

"I see." He wrote some more, before placing his booklet on the table, and steepling his fingers. "Could you tell us what happened tonight?"

I nodded nervously. "All right." I took a breath. "The first thing I remember was getting water dunked on me. I was in somewhere dark and nasty. It smelled so awful."

My voice became a monotone. "The men that held me there were talking about beating me and then cutting my legs off." The woman gasped at the gruesome detail of the story I'd rehearsed in my head on the way there. "They were going to let me try and escape while my legs were chopped off before sending dogs after me."

My audience looked a mix of startled, disgusted and horrified. I stifled an amused smirk, and kept the tale up. "I don't know what came over me, but as soon as they loosened my bindings, I smashed one of them as I hard as I could."

I showed them my bruised right fist.

"Then I hit the next one, and the next, and I managed to escape." I said vaguely, before indicating all over myself. "But they got some hits in too."

"Better sight than having your legs cut off." Blakesley blurted before he could stop himself. The two others glared at him. He winced, before pulling his notepad out.

"These men, can you describe them for me?" Blakesley asked, attempting to sound professional. "If we can match their descriptions, we might be able to find out who did it."

I looked down, affecting a look of shame, before implementing the next part of my story. I'd seen the look of hatred the boy with the shaved head had given me, and the dressing down his parents had given him. They kept talking about something called Empire 88 and racism. "They all had shaved heads, and a strange tattoo on their chests."

"A tattoo, you say?" Blakesley drew something on his notepad before showing it to me. It was the same symbol I'd seen on the boy in the lounge. It was an image of two juxtaposed, elaborate crosses.

"Yes, that one." I said, looking surprised. "Do you know them?"

The three were giving me a look of pity as Blakesley replied. "Unfortunately; they're a group of the worst human beings on the planet, called Empire Eighty-Eight. They are white supremacists who hate any of the other races."

"Oh, I see…" I looked down at my hands.

"I can assume that it was probably them who somehow made you forget everything." The doctor interjected, before moving to me. "May I?"

I nodded, letting the doctor run his fingers over my scalps, feeling a few bruises I'd made sure to inflict upon myself while waiting for Blakesley to come back. I made a deep wince as his fingers brushed over the location he was looking for.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke." The man apologized, before looking to the other two. "I'll need an MRI to confirm, but there is significant bruising, certainly enough to cause amnesia— not that I was doubting your story, my boy. It's procedure."

I gave the man a curt nod, pretending to be offended. The doctor sat down with the officer and the CPS worker, exchanging quick conversation with them.

"What's going to happen to me?" I cut them off, injecting a hint of alarm and fear into my voice. I shook myself slightly.

Officer Blakesley moved over to me and put his hand on my shoulder once more.

"Don't worry, son." He said, gripping my shoulder firmly. "We'll get everything sorted out, even if I have to take you in myself."

He really had a soft spot for kids, didn't he? To open your home to someone you'd just met… I couldn't even imagine it.

"It won't come to that." Ms. Jessica interjected, giving the officer a frosty glare. "I'm sure we can find somewhere for him to stay that isn't highly irregular, Officer Blakesley."

Blakesley winced, but nodded.

I dipped my head. "Thank you."

The next few hours were spent talking things over with Silverman, Blakesley and Hearsum, hashing out all of the details of my injury, moving on to where I would live and how my schooling would have to progress. The CPS worker had left the room for a few dozen minutes, coming back and asking me to sign a stack of papers, before sputtering in embarrassment and hurriedly apologizing.

I assuaged her worries and signed the kanji for fire, the element my clan was known for.

"Perfect." She looked over everything one last time, before nodding and getting up, looking at me expectantly. "Shall we, Mr. Uchiha?"

I nodded and got up as well, wincing slightly at the soreness felt in my calves. I would certainly feel that in the morning. "Are we going to the hospital?" I asked her as she put her things away.

"Not tonight." She said. "We're going to have you checked out tomorrow— a more in depth examination than the one your received tonight, maybe an MRI, if we can squeeze it in." She looked towards the doctor, who nodded in the affirmative.

"For now, I'll take you to your new home. It's a bit short notice, so you may not have a room of your own, just yet, but the man we have on file has accepted."

"What's his name?" I asked curiously.

"Ah, a Mr. Danny Hebert." She said, briefly pulling out the file and reading it over. "He has a daughter, around your age."

"I see." I frowned, staring at her hopeful face. "How bad was the alternative?"

She winced, but said nothing.

That bad, huh?

I knew a thing or two about the child protection system in Konoha— or lack thereof. Naruto, in particular, had suffered tremendously under it. No parent would take him. My problem was different. No parent was allowed to take me, as they would gain notoriety simply by being my guardians, which would likely lead to a whole can of worms, politically speaking.

"I'll go." I gave her a nod, before turning to the police officer and extending my hand. "Thank you, Officer Blakesley. I won't forget this kindness."

"Think nothing of it, son." The man smiled, taking it and shaking firmly. "Helping kids in need out is part of the job description."

A true smile spread over my face, and I ducked my head.

"Come on, I'll see you off." Blakesley said and led us all outside.

"Tomorrow at 4 PM." The doctor said, shaking my hand. "I'll be expecting you at the hospital."

"All right." I gave a nod as the man turned and entered his car, turning it on and driving away. I heard the roar of a second engine— ah, Ms. Jessica was waving for me to get in.

I turned to the police officer, who gave me a nod and said, "If you need anything, you know where to find me, kid. I'm here every night."

"I'll keep that in mind." I promised, entering the car and giving the man one last look. "Goodbye."

 **ooooooo**

 **Let me know what you thought. :)**


	2. Infiltration

**Huge response. Unexpected, actually.**

 **Thank you all! Here's Chapter 2**

 **ooooooo**  
 **Hit The Ground Running  
A Naruto/Worm Crossover  
By Zero Rewind  
ooooooo**

I sighed as I lay on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. As expected, I was laying on a couch in a hastily cleaned up living room. Still, on something so short notice, I was surprised the man had bothered to clean at all.

Tall, but skinny, the balding man's appearance was quite deceptive, to be honest.

He sounded excited, but his tone was awkward and forced; exactly how I'd expect a new foster parent to act. He'd welcomed me in, made a few awful jokes and groan-worthy quips, and apologized for the fact that he didn't have a bed ready for me due to how short notice it all was.

Under his breath, he'd said something I didn't quite catch.

I'd shrugged and told him it was fine, though it made me somewhat curious. Usually, families on the waiting lists would already have everything prepared. Why wasn't he? In fact, judging from the state of the front porch, as well as the rest of the house, the family seemed quite poor.

I shrugged; I'd ask the social worker, the next day. Maybe he'd even tell me, if I asked him.

All I knew was that it sure beat sleeping in some dingy, ratty warehouse, at the very least.

I could tell there was a third person in the house, though he or she was wholly avoiding me –probably the daughter; Taylor, I think her name was?

Then again, she could be sleeping –nah. I was brought in here around 11 PM, and we made quite the racket coming in.

Also, I was fairly certain the man had informed her of my presence.

He sounded hopeful while he was talking about her to me. I supposed he wanted her to make friends. Judging from her unwillingness to even greet me, I figured she was the reclusive type, and would likely not appreciate me coming into her home all of a sudden.

Not that such matters bothered me, of course.

In fact, my thoughts were focusing on something completely different.

'What the fuck happened?' I turned to my side, staring at the black reflective screen of the television the Heberts owned. I had no answer to that, which frustrated me even further.

'How can I get back?' Another thought came. 'If Kaguya could send me here, then maybe I could send myself back? Yes, it would make sense.'

Another question arose. 'How much power would I need?'

And then, another. 'How will I know I'm aiming for the right dimension?'

I'd thought the dimensions were limited to what Kaguya knew, but here I was, stranded on a previously unknown dimension. What guarantee did I have that I would make it back to my own dimension?

And, besides, Kaguya had sent me to that odd dark-but-not-dark void with those enormous creatures. *I* had sent myself here by focusing all of my Chakra into my Rinnegan and blasting the entire world with it.

I rubbed at my forehead, the frustration threatening to give me a headache.

It all seemed so impossible.

It was enough to make me want to kill someone.

I'd wanted to start a revolution, to ensure peace in my home world. After sealing Kaguya, I'd intended on executing the five Kage, as they were responsible for most of the strife seen today. I was going to take on everyone's hatred, similar to what my elder brother had done, but on a global scale.

It would unify the world against me, and ensure true peace; not whatever nonsense Naruto was spouting— that old coot from the Hidden Stone had hired the Akatsuki in the past, while the Raikage was the one who'd ordered the kidnapping of Hyūga clan members to harvest their eyes.

There was no guarantee that those two would stand down, even if Gaara, Tsunade and Mei were on the side of peace. It only took one— one out of thousands of Shinobi. Alliances could be forgotten; greed, and the lust for power is what brought the world into turmoil in the first place.

Sure, Black Zetsu had helped fan the flames of war, but men and women were killing each other long before Chakra even existed!

I was prepared to make that ultimate sacrifice. That was what the title "Hokage" meant for me.

But, it looked like I would never get the chance.

A stray thought came. Pink hair, beautiful green eyes.

"Sakura," I said her name softly.

She'd told me she loved me, once upon a time, didn't she?

Obviously, she _still_ did, if she and Naruto had chased me all this time. Now, they were all beyond my reach.

I was finally alone. All of my bonds were completely, forcibly severed. There was no way for them to reach me, again. That was what I wanted, didn't I?

So, why did I feel so empty inside?

I sighed again, and forced myself to take deep, calming breaths. Minutes later, my body succumbed to its exhaustion and I fell asleep.

What felt like seconds later, I was nudged awake.

What the hell?

"Um, Sasuke." An unfamiliar male voice said, jostling slight me. I groaned and felt the man take his hand off my shoulder. "Would you like some breakfast?"

'Breakfast? But it's the middle of the night.' I wanted to say.

"How long was I out?" I asked instead, beginning to get an understanding of what had happened. I opened my eyes, seeing the man in question –Danny, my mind supplied.

"Twelve hours, I'd say?" Danny Hebert mused, checking his watch. "I'd wanted to wake you up, earlier, but you looked so exhausted."

I still was, but I was grateful he'd bothered. My whole body felt a whole lot less sore than it was before, but with the lessened pain came a sudden weakness. Taking a deep breath, I pulled my covers off and slowly came to my feet.

I'd made the mistake of getting up too quickly, in the past. I had passed out on the spot.

The man smiled and went into the kitchen as I looked myself over, nodding to myself as I evaluated my Chakra levels. It had replenished a fair bit thanks to the food and sleep I got, but it was barely a fraction of my previous levels.

A full recovery would take some time.

"Mr. Hebert." I tried, using the correct honorific. "Can you show me to your bathroom?"

"Oh," His head popped out, looking slightly embarrassed. "Right, right. This way."

He led me up the stairs, to a door on the left.

"Thank you." I gave him a nod, not seeing him waving it off as I went in the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I waited until his footsteps indicated he was downstairs, before stripping down and checking myself out in the mirror. The minor scratches were already gone, and some of the bruising had begun to fade.

I stared for a few seconds longer, before closing my eyes and concentrating. It was an old trick Kakashi had taught me, while preparing for Gaara in the Chūnin Exam. I collected some Chakra into the tip of my index, before pressing it hard against the Chakra Point in which the Gate of Healing would be opened— the side of my head.

He'd learned it from Lee's teacher, Gai, I figured.

It was akin to poking a small hole in a large water balloon, which only let a trickle of water out. The same concept worked with the Chakra being emitted from the Gate of Healing. It would speed up the healing process, which would let me recover much faster than I was, currently.

I waited, assessing my Chakra levels once more. When I'd woken up, I had calculated perhaps three weeks to reach a full recovery.

Now, it would take around… three quarters as long. Not bad.

With a satisfied nod, I got dressed, washed my face a few times, toweled it off, and went back downstairs to the kitchen, sitting opposite of the man who'd already piled some food on his plate— bacon and scrambled eggs, it looked like.

I piled some food for myself and joined him.

He'd glanced and nodded to me, but nothing more.

The next few minutes passed by relatively quickly— I filled up another plate and voraciously tore into the food.

"Must've been hungry, yeah?" Danny looked somewhat amused.

I stopped to swallow, before answering. "Something like that; after what happened…"

He winced. So they'd told him.

"Ah." He said uncertainly. "I can understand that. Well, dig in. You'll have a few hours before Ms. Hearsum comes by to pick you up. Around 2 PM, I think."

Odd, would it truly take two hours to get me to the hospital?

Seeing my confused expression, he explained, sounding somewhat amused. "She wants to take you shopping."

Shopping? With a social worker?

"I take it this doesn't happen often?" I asked wryly.

"It's a special case, with me." Danny said, abashed. "It's a bit of a long story, actually. I wasn't even expecting anyone to contact me with something like this."

He didn't elaborate on why he wasn't expecting anyone, but I could figure it out, easily enough.

Poor, single fathers weren't exactly prime examples of foster parents.

But, I didn't particularly care. I'd lost my family a long time ago, and wasn't really looking for a new one. All of this was done to acquire a place for me to sleep, eat and recover.

However dirty it made me feel on the inside. Using innocents like this wasn't exactly something I'd have done normally, but harsh circumstances called for equally harsh decisions.

Besides, it's not like I was imposing on them. Foster parents were always paid to host kids.

"Fair enough." I finally said, taking a final bite out of my plate, before taking it to the sink and beginning to wash. I figured this would be a good way to get the man's goodwill.

"No, no, no." Danny said hurriedly, still in his chair. "I'll do that later, don't worry about it."

"Ah.." I said uncertainly, before shrugging. "I don't want you to think of me as an imposition."

"Nonsense." He motioned for me to sit back down.

"Are you sure?"

A nod.

I obeyed and took my seat.

"Frankly, I'm rather enjoying the company." He admitted, an odd wistful tone in his voice. "I bet you're wondering how exactly you were sent here. Plenty of homes with two parents, and no kids, right? Why the single father who already has a daughter?"

I took a breath and considered his question.

"I'd assumed there was no other real choice." I said, frowning in thought. "Probably due to my age. Most parents want someone young so they can raise him or her— preferable one that isn't a basket case."

"I— Yes." The man looked surprised. "It's unfair to orphans who are just looking for a good home, but that's the harsh reality of it. You're right. But, you're no basket case. So, don't say that, all right?"

I gave him an amused look, as if to say "really?"

"So, why you?" I pressed on. "You said you weren't expecting it."

"It's a long story." The man said, sitting back. "And I'm sure you don't want to hear about a random stranger's life, moments after you met him, right?"

"There's plenty of time." I disagreed, shaking my head.

Silence reigned for a few moments, before the older man relented.

"Well, after we had Taylor, my wife and I found that we couldn't have any more kids. So, we'd agreed to foster a child, give him or her a loving home. We certainly had the space. After…" The man looked pained as he brought up his wife. "After she passed, I'd assumed I was taken out of consideration, all things considered."

"…My condolences, Mr. Hebert." And I meant it, images of my own mother flitting about in my head.

"It's all right; and call me Danny." The man tried to shake off the gloomy atmosphere without much luck. Not that I knew how to lighten the mood, either. That had always been more Suigetsu's thing; Naruto's, too.

"So, what do you do, Danny?" I changed the subject.

Danny shot me a grateful look, and started telling me about his work.

"I work at the Dockworker's Association." Danny said between mouthfuls. "I'm their head of hiring, and I double as the spokesperson."

So, he was like Tazuna, then? Close enough. All he needed were a few wrinkles, here and there, a rope to tie around his forehead, some booze, and the strange need to say "super" a lot.

"The Docks, then?" I mused, mind latching onto something. "I saw a whole bunch of abandoned boats in the water."

A small look of frustration came over the man. "Yes. Sadly, after Leviathan, no one wanted to go out to sea anymore. They feared Leviathan would come and kill them all. They're not wrong, of course, but that basically killed off one of Brockton Bay's most important aspects of trade."

I frowned, affecting a look of confusion.

"Leviathan?" I asked. "What's that?"

Danny looked at me like I'd grown a second head, before his eyes widened in realization. "Of course, I'd almost forgotten you have amnesia." There was a joke in there, somewhere.

"Ah, I suppose I'll give you the basic knowledge of it, at least."

Then, Danny went into a simple explanation of what an Endbringer was. Apparently they were monstrous creatures which attacked different locations around the globe— and they were considered unkillable.

So.. This world's version of Tailed Beasts.

Apparently, there were three Endbringers; Leviathan, Behemoth, and the Simurgh. Leviathan was a thirty foot tall beast of the water, incredibly fast, capable of affecting the weather and sending tsunamis. Behemoth was a forty foot tall giant covered in obsidian-like crags that could shoot lightning, radiation, and kill anything that gets too close to him through aura alone. Then, to top everything off, the Simurgh was a fifteen foot tall, naked, angelic looking woman who was telekinetic and possessed the ability of precognition.

"When you hear the Endbringer alarms, you run to the shelters or evacuation points. No exceptions." Danny made sure to say. "Even most capes can do nothing but delay them long enough for everyone to escape."

Capes?

"A cape is a human with powers." Danny explained, anticipating the question. "I don't know how they get it, but something happens, and they gain powers; powers like super strength, flight, and whatnot. It's different for each one."

"I see." I nodded in understanding. So this world had the equivalent of Tailed Beasts, as well as Bloodline Limits. I wondered if they knew how to use Chakra, as well. "So, these capes are heroes?"

"Some are." Danny said, frowning. "But, a lot of them end up turning to crime, instead. Those men that held you hostage— they're part of Empire Eighty-Eight." He paused for a moment, taking a gulp of orange juice.

I nodded for him to continue.

"That gang's led by a cape." Danny revealed. "Actually, all of the gangs here are."

It made sense. Criminal empires were run by whoever was considered the strongest— and people with bloodline limits were the ones that generally rise to the top of the food chain.

The Uchiha and the Senju clans were the best examples of this; completely outclassing the other clans. If the Uchiha picked one side in the fight, the Senju were begged to pick the other to even the odds.

"Any particular ones I should be wary of?" I asked, remembering the glare the kid with the shaved head had given me in the police station. "Aside from the Empire."

Danny turned thoughtful.

"…ABB, probably. They're all Asian, like you, you see." Danny scratched his chin. I had no idea what an Asian was, but I nodded anyway. "They like to recruit them young, and you're the prime age. You'll have to be careful dealing with them."

I absorbed all of the given information, thanking the man while I did.

"I'd be stupid not to tell you." The man waved it off. "After the ordeal you'd just gone through…"

I affected a wince, and opened my mouth to change the subject, before the doorbell ringed.

"Huh." Danny checked his watch. "It's a bit early, isn't it? She said she'd be here at two. It's not even one, yet."

I shrugged and followed the man to the entrance, watching as he opened the door, revealing Ms. Hearsum.

"Hello, Mr. Hebert, Sasuke." She greeted. I waved back. "I trust you've rested well?"

"Yes, Ms. Hearsum." I confirmed, cracking my neck slightly. "I needed that."

"Yes." She said unnecessarily, fidgeting slightly as she turned to Danny. "I'd like to thank you again for opening your home to Sasuke, Mr. Hebert."

"Think nothing of it." Danny said, trying to smile but ending up looking sad, instead. "My wife would've done the exact same. Please, come in."

She nodded stiffly, and entered the home. I followed them both into the living room, noticing that Danny had already cleaned up my sleeping area— and freshened the air, too? That was quick on his part.

He must've done it while I went to the bathroom.

Shrugging mentally, I stood against the wall, watching them both take seats.

"Sasuke, don't you want to sit?" Danny tried, giving me an odd look.

I gave a slight smile. "I'm good, but thank you." Then, I turned to the social worker. "Danny said that you wanted to bring me along with you to buy some clothes?"

"Ah.. Yes." She confirmed, fidgeting as my gaze went over her. "It's technically against the rules— usually the foster parents handle this, but this isn't exactly your everyday situation."

Huh, I wondered what she meant by that. Was she insinuating that Hebert was poor? There was no malice in the way she spoke. Perhaps my fake story had affected her that much?

Judging by her fidgeting, I figured that it did.

"I'll take all the help I can get." I said genuinely— even if I disliked being looked at with those eyes. I was not someone to be pitied. "Thank you."

She smiled, before her eyes widened. She dove into her briefcase, pulling out a pamphlet and a stack of papers. "That's right; we still have to iron out the details of your schooling."

Oh, for fuck's sake. More paperwork!?

Apparently, my displeasure hadn't been as hidden as I thought it was, as she stifled a giggle and gave me the most chiding look she could manage.

"I've enlisted you in Winslow High." She said, her tone turning more formal as she continue to speak. "Though, you won't be sharing any classes with the typical grades, as you still need to learn the basics. You'll be attending specialized classes; does that sound good?"

Specialized classes, eh?

Nice of her to not outright call me stupid.

I nodded. "Yes."

"All right; all you have to do is sign here…" She handed me a pen, pointing to a spot on the paper. "And here.. Oh, here too. I'll write the date, don't worry."

After half a minute of tedious signing, she finally put the papers back in the briefcase.

Thank the Sage.

"When does he start?" Danny asked helpfully.

"Oh, right." She smiled. "I've put you on for Monday. So, you'll have five days to recuperate from.. what happened. I'm truly sorry, Sasuke. I know it can't be easy, dealing with everything."

How little she knew…

"It's all right." I said, looking like I wanted to talk about anything but that. "I'm here, and that's all that matters."

"Well said." Danny said, giving a strong nod. "With any luck, the police will find the perpetrators."

'Don't count on it,' I wanted to say.

The next half hour was spent answering whatever question Ms. Hearsum had. Questions like "are you liking it here?" "Were you able to remember anything else?" "Have you met Taylor yet?"

I answered them as best as I could, making sure to put Danny in a positive light when she started asking about him specifically.

"He made me breakfast and we talked." I replied, giving her a frown of slight frustration as I kept going. "I asked him where he worked, and made a comment about the wrecked boats in the city— apparently I've also forgotten about the Endbringers too— and capes, for that matter. Who knows what else I've forgotten?"

She winced, and hurriedly changed the subject.

Jessica probably didn't want to upset me.

The subjects turned light; she was talking about having me apply for a sports team, or something, in Winslow. I politely declined, stating I would rather study to catch up with the people my age. My time was better spent in the library, I imagined.

It was a reasonable response, so she let go of that one quickly.

She checked her watch. "Oh, we should get going. We have about an hour to get you some new clothes, and then we have to get to the hospital."

"When will you bring him back, Ms. Hearsum?" Danny asked as he got to his feet, leading us all to the door.

"Hm, well…" She trailed off as she headed to her car. "His appointment's at four, and it should take around an hour, all things considered."

"Ah, so around five thirty, or six." Danny nodded. "That sounds fine. It should give me enough time to get a copy of the house key made for Sasuke."

I turned to look at him in surprise. He was even going to make a key for me?

I felt the barest of tugs on my heart, but I stamped down on it, hard.

"Thank you, Mr. Hebert." I gave a respectful bow.

He snorted and took my hand. "Don't make me tell you again, Sasuke; it's Danny, all right? Mr. Hebert was my old man."

Did I detect a hint of disdain at the mention of his father? Maybe I was just imagining it.

"All right." I nodded, looking at him awkwardly and shaking his hand. I was unused to being treated so familiarly. Not since Naruto and Sakura. "Danny."

I let go, and got in the car with Ms. Jessica. The drive was a quiet affair— apparently she was not a talker when moving at high speeds, not that I could blame her. The experience was not unenjoyable, I decided. It was interesting to see how civilians moved around in their daily lives.

Fascinating, really. There was an entire system that was followed. Alternating lights, each signifying a certain concept; stop, go, slow down, etc. You had to signal to change lanes, so you didn't get in an accident with anyone.

And the roads themselves…

I briefly imagined all of the hidden villages connected by such roads.

That would be the day.

I frowned and shook my head. That was forever beyond my reach, now.

"We're here," I felt the car stop and looked outside. It was a pretty huge building; I assumed that this was the marketplace, or whatever equivalent these people had.

I nodded, unclasped my seatbelt and followed the older woman to one of the entrances. There were a few smokers loitering outside, staring at the two of us as we entered the building. A few kids my age were staring at me and commenting, giggling and pointing at my attire.

I supposed the drab pajamas would be amusing— if one was petty enough to judge another by what they wore. Civilians…

Nothing better to do.

I stifled an eye roll and followed the social worker around for the next hour, helping me pick out whatever clothing I wanted. I refused any of the 'jeans' she kept trying to suggest I wear. Instead I got a set of blue and black shirts; apparently no one sold anything with a wide collar.

I'd need to sow the Uchiha crest on them, at some point.

My clan was a source of pride, for me.

I also got a pair of sneakers, some sweatpants, and a few pairs of pants that didn't completely destroy my range of motion. I probably wouldn't be able to do any overly acrobatic moves in them, but I would at least be able to move around freely enough. She'd looked annoyed and muttered about men and their obsession with wide pants.

She had them rung up and bought, anyway.

With that done, we got back into the car, and drove off. The trip to the hospital was much quicker than the trip to the 'mall', as she called it, only taking about ten minutes, versus the twenty something it had taken her before.

Getting out of the car, I noted a large car stopping by a section off to the side. The doors were opened quick, and a person on a stretcher was wheeled inside quickly by the hospital workers. Interesting method of getting someone in the emergency room— but then again, these people didn't have Chakra to have someone in stasis.

I felt a great swell of pity for the people here.

Living without a hint of Chakra must _suck_.

"Come." Jessica said, leading me through the front entrance.

The smell of sterilized air and rubbing alcohol wafted in my nose, reminding me of the hospital at Konoha, as well as Orochimaru, Karin and Kabuto's many labs. The familiarity was almost enough to break my concentration.

Almost.

I followed the woman past the reception, and into an elevator, taking us to another floor. I figured, judging by the size of the first floor, and the apparent height I was at when I looked out a window, that we were on the fifth floor.

We went through another few hallways, doubling back once Jessica realized she was lost. She apologized. I waved it off. Hospitals had always creeped me out. Eventually, we found one of the doctors, who led us to the appropriate section.

And, then, we did what anyone in a hospital would do.

We waited.

And waited.

And then waited some more.

Until, finally— nope, still waiting.

I weathered it like the legendary Uchiha that I was— me, conceited? Well, maybe a little.

As I was pondering my status as a legendary Shinobi, the door to our right finally opened, revealing Doctor Silverman. His eyes went over us for a few seconds, before widening in recognition. He waved us over.

"You're early." He smiled.

"Oh." She sounded disappointed. "I hope we're not cutting into your time with a patient."

"Oh, no." He shook his head. "The last guy left ten minutes ago, I don't really have anyone scheduled until Sasuke."

Jessica perked up, and turned to me. "I'll be waiting here for you, all right?"

I gave a silent nod, and followed the doctor inside.

"How are you feeling?" The man led me through a few doors, into a completely white room, with a large machine at the center.

"I had a long sleep, but I still feel weak and exhausted." I said truthfully.

"Hm. That means you're starting to heal. I'm assuming you had a large meal this morning?" He said unnecessarily and looked me over, lifting my shirt and checking the wounds. "You're healing up rather well. That's good…"

He did a few more checks, including, but not limited to checking the inside of my mouth, my ears, how quickly my pupils dilated, whacking my knee with a strange rubber hammer, before backing off and clapping his hands.

I understood the reasoning behind every one of the checks. At the very least, these people were versatile— to substitute every diagnostic technique with physical variants was impressive.

Humanity would never cease to surprise me.

"All right!" He said. "So, we're going to run an MRI scan. All you have to do is lay down here," he indicated the platform. "And we're going to put your head in the center of the machine; it'll scan your brain to see if there are any deficiencies. That sound good?"

I gave a nod.

"Okay, Sasuke." He addressed me. "I will need you to put away anything metallic; that includes your pants."

I shrugged and did as he said, stripping down to the pair of boxers that Danny had given me the night before.

"Perfect, I'm going to take these out of the room; I'll be back." Silverman said as he exited.

Hm, what would be the best way to fake having amnesia? I could put a Genjutsu on whatever results he was bound to show me— but then I'd have to put him under, as well, and whoever else managed to look at it before I'd managed to change its appearance.

Plus, with my current Chakra levels, there was no guarantee I could hold such a Genjutsu for long.

Ah, there was a better plan.

Dog. Boar. Ram.

I ran through the seals and focused on making my brain look like it was damaged in a way that suggested amnesia— I remembered a few of the charts Kabuto had shown me after he'd forced retrograde amnesia on one of Orochimaru's prisoners. "Henge no Jutsu."

There was no puff of smoke, no outward shift in my appearance, but I knew the technique was in effect. The drain on my Chakra was not particularly significant— the time spent sleeping had given me enough to let loose a few shots of Chidori.

A transformation for a few minutes was nothing, in comparison.

Doctor Silverman came back in, making sure to look me over one final time, before nodding and motioning for me to lay on my back. I followed his directions as we went through the procedure. All I had to do was lie on my back for a few minutes as he fiddled with the controls.

It was done before I knew it.

I released the technique as he left to bring back my clothes, sighing in contentment as the drain on my Chakra stopped. A few minutes later, I was completely dressed, and back to waiting in lobby outside, with Ms. Hearsum.

Apparently no one had mentioned that there was another waiting period of around an hour until I got my results. I already knew what the results were going to be; my transformation saw to that.

Still, I waited until the time came, and was called back into the room. Silverman looked grim as he confirmed that I had retrograde amnesia— no memories before the moment I was 'injured'.

He also seemed somewhat relieved that I hadn't been afflicted with the other, more sinister kind— anterograde amnesia, which took away someone's ability to create new memories.

He went on to explain the situation, in depth, referencing the report he had written up— apparently he also doubled up as a radiologist, whatever that was— and asking me a few more questions.

When I told him I was going to be studying as much as I could, to catch up with everyone else, his grim look turned into a sad smile.

"That's good." He said, patting me on the shoulder as he led me to back to the lobby, revealing Ms. Hearsum, who looked bored out of her mind, judging by how she was fiddling on the phone in her hand. "It's good to have a goal like that. I'm glad, actually. Many people end up spiraling into a depression, refusing to eat, drink or sleep. The fact that you're already planning on re-learning everything you can is a good sign, Sasuke."

I gave his hand a firm shake after he handed a copy of my medical record to Jessica.

She began to look it over as the doctor spoke. "Discounting his injuries and retrograde amnesia, young Sasuke here seems to be quite healthy— peak health, in fact, judging by the tests I'd performed before the MRI. He should have no trouble making a full recovery. As for the amnesia, there's no going around it; he will have to relearn anything he's forgotten. It will be a hard few years for you, Sasuke, but I have confidence that you can do it."

I gave a genuine smile.

"Thank you."

Infiltration, success!

Kabuto would be proud.

…On second thought, fuck Kabuto.

 **ooooooo**

 **That's that!**

 **Oh, quick note; if you're reviewing a guest, don't expect me to answer your question. I generally reply to reviews through the website's PM feature— not the mobile version. Though, if you really want to chat, you can message me on the mobile version too.**

 **I'm perpetually bored, you see.**

 **Anyway, take care!**


	3. School No Jutsu

A few of you are upset Sasuke may be acting 'OOC' (he isn't, btw). God forbid he ever cracks a joke in his own mind. Seriously; lighten up, and welcome to FFnet.

On with the story!

 **ooooooo**  
 **Hit The Ground Running  
A Naruto/Worm Crossover  
By Zero Rewind  
ooooooo**

I made use of the time during the drive to the Hebert household to center myself, once again. I disliked infiltration missions by nature.

Maintaining the persona of a scared but brave young man wasn't exactly tough, considering most of the 'feelings' I was showing my current minders were somewhat genuine –could've been.

It was hard to explain.

After the massacre, I had learned to suppress my true self; that idiotic, sweet, happy, caring boy somewhere very, very, _very_ deep within.

Now, I was simply attempting to not do that. It would help draw suspicion off of me. Of course, I was not the sort to wear my emotions on my sleeve like that moron Naruto. It took him years upon years for anyone to take him seriously –including myself.

Still, I found the duplicity somewhat annoying, however necessary it was.

I was a fighter. That was what I excelled at.

But I was a true Shinobi like my brother. I didn't become Rookie of the Year by messing around. The time I'd spent under Kakashi, and the further time spent in Orochimaru's hideouts had taught me the importance of deception.

Kakashi had always spoken of looking underneath the underneath.

I had found methods to hide even deeper.

Not that there was any need to, in this case. I was officially an amnesiac victim of a gang in this city. My acting skills had laid down the foundations, and a precise use of Chakra had cemented my position as a helpless kid.

It was almost funny how effective a 'lowly' E-Rank technique could really be. The obvious truth, of course, was that it wasn't the technique that decided the battle; it was the user behind it.

The master wielding a pebble would always defeat the newbie wielding a shuriken; that was the truth, pure and simple.

Why waste Chakra putting an unknown amount of people under illusions when I could simply fool a machine into printing out an eternal image of the deception? The risk was lower, the reward was higher.

Even Naruto could do that math.

Jessica's sudden fit of coughing interrupted my thoughts.

"Are you all right?" I asked as she pulled over by the side of the road to get it all out.

"It's nothing." She said between coughs. "Must be something in the air."

She eventually managed to get it together and got us back on the road. "Sorry about that."

I waved it off and turned my thoughts inward once more.

'How odd,' I thought. I could barely remember when I was last sick –truly, badly sick.

That was going to be the general theme of everything I would deal with, wouldn't it? I was sure I would even find these powered humans quite odd. My thoughts turned to them.

Danny had not been overly forthcoming when he'd spoken of the 'capes' in the city. He'd only said that they possessed powers which made them stand above the rest. Of course, he'd only given me a general explanation.

Still, I found the subject fascinating.

What sorts of powers did they possess? How strong were they? I could feel my blood singing with barely restrained excitement at the very thought.

I came back to reality when Ms. Hearsum cleared her throat, telling me that we were almost there. I nodded and roused myself.

A minute later, the car pulled over by Danny's home.

"There we go." She smiled as she parked the car and exited it, pulling her briefcase out with her, and walking around the car towards me.

"Now, Sasuke." She dug in the briefcase, pulling a few small stacks of paper out. "I had the office print these for me before I came over. They will serve as temporary identification for you while we work on establishing your status, here."

I nodded. "I will hold on to it."

"Good." She said, smiling. "After we get all the paperwork sorted out, I'll drop by and have you take a photo for your ID. Does that sound good?"

"Yes." I said, giving her a short bow of gratitude. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." She said, a small blush creeping up on her cheeks. "It's my job."

"Not so." I denied with a shake of my head. "You didn't have to take me to the... mall and get me some clothes."

"That never happened." She said, her tone insistent.

"Of course." I agreed, giving her a flat stare.

She snorted and went back in her car. "You take care, Sasuke. I'll see you soon."

She drove away. I kept watching her until she turned and got out of sight, before sighing and trudging my way to the home, skipping the broken step and slowly making my way to the door.

I frowned slightly; I knew something was up with me. Things seemed more humorous, and I was more easily agitated than before. My control over my emotions was slipping.

Intellectually, I knew what it was. I was slowly reaching the point where I'd snap under the pressure I was under. I'd kept it up for years, driven by the sole need to get revenge and justice for my family.

That was my goal, my purpose.

And, now I had none, but I was still trying to do my best.

"Just what is my purpose?" I murmured under my breath. "What am I to do?"

No answer came.

I shook off the feelings. Perhaps some food and rest would improve my mood.

The sun was beginning to set, the sky slowly darkening as it gradually descended into the horizon. I stopped at the door, and knocked twice.

And waited.

Nothing.

Oh, that was right; the man had gone to get me a copy of his home's key.

Eyes crinkling in slight annoyance, I turned and went to sit at the steps.

I heard the lock unlatch and the door open behind me.

I turned to see a girl around my age, standing in the doorway and giving me a curious, but guarded look. She was a tall girl, as tall as I was, though she was stick-thin. She had the same eyes and gawky look as her father, though her mouth was different; thin-lipped, wide and expressive.

Her eyes seemed to go over my body for a few instants too long, before I started to speak.

"Hello." I greeted the girl, not really knowing what to say. "You must be Taylor. I'm-"

"Sasuke, right?" Her eyes were frigid behind those glasses, and her body language spoke of extreme hesitation.

I noted her choice of clothing –a brown hooded sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers, covering herself almost completely— comparing it to the girls I'd seen at the shopping center, who were showing a ridiculous amount of skin in comparison to Taylor.

"Dad said you would be on your way back from the hospital. He should be home soon."

She reminded me of Hinata Hyūga, in a way. Muted colors, hiding the background; she likely wasn't the sort to flaunt her appearance, like, say… the annoyingly loud Yamanaka girl.

"Yes." I gave her a nod. "May I come in?"

She covered her mouth, likely suppressing a snort. She'd found something humorous in what I'd said, but she moved aside and let me in.

I didn't ask for her to elaborate.

Crossing the threshold, I pulled my shoes off before heading inside, towards the living room –or, rather, my temporary bedroom. She followed.

I was dismayed and slightly annoyed that her old man wasn't here; it would've made introductions easier.

"So, dad said you would be staying here, from now on?" She said as she took a seat on a couch, as if to establish that this was her territory. Such an odd girl, I thought; one second she seemed shy and guarded, and the next, confrontational and aggressive.

But, then again, I'd caught a few tells from her father, earlier this day. Anger issues in the family, most likely.

My clues weren't in any way conclusive, of course, but my experience taught me to trust my gut instinct.

"That's right." I confirmed, pointedly not taking a seat and instead finding an empty space on the wall to lean against –the same spot I'd used before.

Her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms, her stance turning even more hostile. "Right."

She got up, seemingly annoyed by my lack of reaction to her demeanor.

"Well, there's leftovers in the fridge." She informed me, her tone clipped as she turned and went up the stairs, not even bothering to say anything else.

That was an odd mix of helpfulness and impoliteness.

She clearly didn't want me here, but wasn't enough of a bitch to deny me food or drink.

Then again, I couldn't really blame her for her reaction, could I? I had essentially invaded her home with no warning.

Once again, I had to remind myself that it beat living in filthy alleyways, or breaking into other people's homes in the middle of the night to steal their food.

Even after everything; all the things I'd done, there were still things I absolutely refused to do.

I headed into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Checking for a while, I decided to grab one of the tomatoes.

An old favorite of mine.

Perhaps, before I'd met Itachi for the last time, I would've had no trouble entering this world and tearing a path of death and destruction; maybe even become their ruler in some over the top plan like Madara's Moon's Eye Plan.

Things had changed, though.

I truly wanted to honor Itachi's wishes and do my best to make the world a better place. I realized that it would be an impossible dream, at this point. I was alone, and stranded in this unknown world.

I'd entertained the idea of having my summons reverse summon me home, but that was a fool's hope. Summoning the hawk in Kaguya's lava realm had taken an almost extreme amount of Chakra, and that was to a dimension neighboring mine.

Who knew how I far I'd gone, now?

Between Kaguya's last ditch move –which she likely did in spite, sending me into the multiverse without specifying any directions –and my own use of Rinnegan to further complicate the issue, I was sure that there wouldn't be any way home.

Not that I wouldn't try, of course.

Once I was fully healed, I would see what I could do, however little I suspected it would be.

It would lay everything to rest.

'Perhaps it would be better this way,' I thought as I took bites out of the tomato, relishing the familiar taste. 'Maybe Naruto could succeed where I failed.'

My face cracked into a smirk at the very thought.

He was certainly one of a kind, that nuisance; always chasing after me, even when everyone else had given up on me. Even when I'd insulted him. Even when I called him worthless.

Even when I'd shown him the worst parts of me, he still stared at me with those earnest, expressive blue eyes, sharing the hope he held in his heart with me.

He still wanted to save me from the darkness I had willingly stepped into.

'Because we're friends.' He would say, every time I asked him why he kept chasing after me, why he was so obsessed with me.

It made me hate him all the more, but at the same time… I was glad. Even though I never showed it, I was genuinely glad he thought that way.

"Naruto…" I said the name, my mood turning somber. "What would _you_ do?"

I already knew the answer to that question. Naruto was not the sort to give up on life. No matter how bad things got, he managed to find happiness. If he were in my place, he'd make friends with everyone he'd met –and likely wouldn't have pretended to have amnesia, or faked his emotions like I had been doing.

But, I wasn't like Naruto. I couldn't do things like him. Things don't ever go that smoothly, with me. He made things look so simple, easily conversing with Shinobi from different parts of the Elemental Nations and befriending them.

I doubted I could do the same. I didn't trust in them, in their strength of character.

I believed them to be weak or corrupt, or both –everyone except Naruto, and myself. Sakura, as well; she had earned my respect during this war. Her being the integral reason we'd sealed Kaguya off merely cemented her position.

I supposed Kakashi also deserved some of the credit, come to think of it.

Maybe there was a little merit to how Naruto would go about it, if he were in my place.

I mulled it over for a while, before giving a rueful shake of the head.

I heard the sound of car pulling up the sidewalk and parking. Moments later, the front door opened, revealing Danny, who was carrying a few odds and ends, including a backpack.

I went to greet him.

"Ah, Sasuke. You're back." The man smiled as he entered the living room, setting everything down before moving towards me, pulling something out of his pocket.

Metal glinted in the light— it was a key. A copy of their house key.

"There you go." He handed it to me. "Make sure you don't lose it. I'd rather not have to get another one made."

"Understood." I said.

"I also got you a few towels, a toothbrush and a few other essentials." He pointed to the aforementioned products, before gesturing at the backpack. "For when you start school."

A faint memory of my mother preparing my things for the academy came to me.

I dipped my head very slightly.

"Thank you, Danny." I said gratefully.

"Hey, it's what parents are here for, right?" He said good-naturedly, before looking to the stairs.

"I assume you've met Taylor already?" Danny turned back to me.

"Yes. She opened the door for me." I said unnecessarily. How else would I have been inside if we hadn't met?

The man gave me a look, as if he wanted me to say something more.

"She didn't seem excited to have me here." I added in, watching the man frown at the words.

"I see." Danny said, before leaning over to me and speaking in low tones. "She hasn't had a good year. A few months ago, something really bad happened to her at school, and I haven't really been sure if it's still going on, or not."

I felt like he was hinting at something.

"Don't take it personally, Sasuke." Danny patted my shoulder and made for the kitchen. "She'll warm up to you in no time, you'll see."

I shrugged in response, though he didn't see it.

Friends, huh…

'I don't need friends.' The stubborn, prideful part of me snarled.

'Then again, the man opened his home for me. The least I can do is watch over his daughter.' I thought reasonably. 'It's actually like a C-Rank protection detail in exchange for room and board.'

Yes, that sounded good. It was all just a protection mission, nothing more.

I wasn't here to make friends.

Mind made up, I went back to the kitchen, hearing the elder Hebert call his daughter down for dinner. Moments later, her head poked from the stairs, pointedly ignoring me as she spoke to her father.

"I had dinner while you were out, dad." Taylor said, before going back upstairs.

I stared at her previous position for a few seconds more, before turning my attention onto the older man.

That night, I dreamt of pink hair, all killing ash bones, tailed beasts, and truth seeking orbs.

 **ooooooo**

It was finally time to start school. The weekend had gone just about as I expected. Taylor ended up avoiding me with every chance she got, though her father had instated a rule which forced her to attend evening dinners.

Those affairs were awkward for her; she'd started looking at me differently when her father explained the reason I was here. The annoyance was still there, though it almost completely disappeared— replaced by pity, and a strange concern.

The pity rankled at me, even though I knew I would be feeling the same way, if the roles were reversed. A small thing to be bothered about, at best; I ignored the feelings.

I woke up in the early hours of the morning and immediately went to the bathroom, doing my morning routine and checking over my injuries. They were completely gone.

A few checks showed that, yes, I had the full range of motion available to me. I still felt a slight weakness, but I figured more resting time would fix all that.

Of course, I'd reached the point where feeling 'slightly weak' meant that I could still punch hard enough to heavily crack boulders— instead of completely shatter it.

My Chakra recovery, on the other hand, was coming along far too slowly for my liking. Another week's time, by my rough estimation, and I would be near a hundred percent.

At least, I could actually activate my Rinnegan, now. The drain didn't feel all that bad, though I wouldn't be running around with it activated for long periods of time; that was for sure.

I shrugged. I was strong enough to begin exploring this area. I still needed to get my bearings, figure out the ins and outs of where I lived.

A Shinobi was always aware of his surroundings, after all.

I got dressed quickly, and made my way downstairs, pocketing the house key that Danny had given me, alongside an old wallet he'd had lying around. I'd ended up requiring one, so I could put in my newly acquired bus pass, as well as my new piece of identification, as well as some pocket change— I'd eventually learn what the numbers on it signified.

I pulled the wallet out, and inched out the plastic card, looking at it with some bemusement.

It had a picture of me, with what looked to be a few details about me. Old Hebert said that it showed my birth date— they'd picked one at random, and had me listed as a seventeen year old, which I found somewhat amusing— my eye color, height, etc.

The front door of the house opened, revealing Taylor. The smell of sweat reached my nose as she passed me by— probably from her morning runs— on the way up the stairs.

Shrugging mentally, I went to the kitchen to see Danny already in the middle of making breakfast.

"Good morning, Sasuke." Danny glanced at me, then at the table. "Could you hand me the salt shaker for a sec? Thanks."

I did as he asked, before pulling some plates and helping to set the table. I took a seat, and waited. A few minutes later, Taylor entered the kitchen, giving me a single glance before sitting opposite of me.

"All right." Danny was looking somewhat content as he piled some eggs onto our plates, the toaster snapping as it loudly unclasped its hold on the bread, which ended up startling Taylor.

Amusing. She glanced my way; I stared back, bemused.

She quickly broke eye contact, blushing slightly as she dug in.

Danny had missed the exchange when he turned to get the toast, but he'd caught the blush as he got closer. Thankfully, he didn't comment on it.

Minutes later, he began to address me.

"So, Sasuke." Danny asked between mouthfuls. "Today's the day. You excited?"

I gave him a flat look.

Between having to suffer the indignity of re-learning how to read, write, and learning history and the like, I was certainly not looking forward to it.

"Very." I ended up saying monotonously.

Danny snorted. Taylor looked like she was doing her best to suppress a smile.

Looks like I was slowly growing on her.

A voice in the back of my mind reminded me I wasn't here to make any friends, but there was no bite in it.

Over the weekend, I'd been trying to sense for my connection to my summons, but it was completely gone. Either I was too far away to be able to sense anything with any modicum of accuracy— or, the summon elders had terminated the contracts, incorrectly assuming I was already dead.

"Well, chin up." He said. "I know it'll be rough and probably slow going, but I'm sure you'll be able to catch up with everyone in no time."

"Thank you." I replied.

"And, Taylor—"

"—Yes, dad. I'll take him to Principal Blackwell, like you asked." She'd correctly intuited what he was going to say.

"Right." He blinked, before smiling and getting up, taking the plates and putting them in the sink for later. "Good. Well, I have to go now; I'll see you both in the afternoon. Be safe." He ordered us both before making to grab his keys.

"All right, dad."

"Sure." Taylor and I said at the same time.

We watched as he left the premises, hearing the sound of his car engine as he drove off.

A few awkward seconds later, Taylor got up.

"Come on." She said, grabbing backpack and heading to the door. "You probably shouldn't be late on your first day."

I didn't reply, merely grabbing my own backpack and following her outside. The commute was a bumpy affair, though it never affected me, as my balance was well enough to deal with it. If I could run around on the debris falling off of a bridge, I could stand still on a slow moving bus.

Eventually, Taylor nudged me, indicating our stop. I followed her out, quietly moving alongside her. Her demeanor seemed to change with every second. She hunched over slightly, and dipped her head down ever so slightly.

She'd gone into full avoidance mode.

"Taylor." I opened my mouth, but shut it when she looked at me. Her eyes had a strange, desperate intensity to them that surprised me.

"Just, follow me quick, okay?" She asked, but didn't elaborate on why.

"Sure." I agreed easily enough, not wanting to agitate the girl, and feeling slightly concerned.

Cursing myself for having these feelings, I silently followed the girl to the school— and what a school it was.

It looked more like a pigsty than a school. Sure, I'd thought the academy was boring, but at least the premises were clean. I watched as kids from all backgrounds converged onto a single entrance, where they passed by a few security guards who stopped a few for impromptu searches.

We passed them by, the men leaving us alone, though they'd given me an odd look as I walked past them.

"New kid." One of them said.

That was when the whispers started.

"Look, it's a new kid."

"Wow, he looks _good_." A girl said.

"What's he doing with _her_?"

"Who cares, just _look_ at him!"

"I'd like to do more than look." One of them dared to say as we passed by.

This was the part I was hoping to avoid the most— the girls.

'I'm doing this to gain all the knowledge I can,' I reminded myself.

I decided, then and there, that I'd do it quickly. Anything to avoid those girls— Taylor wasn't bad. She'd glanced at me a few times, but mostly left me alone. Perfectly acceptable behavior, I thought— I had given her a few stealthy looks myself in the past few days, too.

Taylor's pace quickened, but she didn't comment on their words.

Thank the Sage for small mercies.

A thought occurred. I was basically a Sage in my own right, now, wasn't I?

Was I thanking myself? Or worse, was I thanking Naruto?

Naruto, the Sage of Six Paths… What a joke.

I shook off the ridiculous thoughts as we reached a set of doors with a black placard. I assumed it was the Principal's Office.

"This is it." Taylor said, turning to leave. "I'll see you at the end of school, okay? I'll be waiting at the exit."

I nodded and said. "All right. Thank you, Taylor."

She turned her head slightly towards me, before shaking it, muttering something under her breath and walking away.

Huh, what did she mean by "if I don't get caught by _them_ , first"?

My eyes narrowed in thought as she turned a corner and disappeared. Her father _had_ said something about bullying, hadn't he?

With a very slight shrug, I turned back to the Principal's door and knocked twice.

"Come in." A female voice said from inside, muffled by the door.

I opened the door and came in, taking in the details of her office— the various knick knacks on her table, the posters on the worn looking walls— before focusing on the woman, herself.

Principal Blackwell gave me an unpleasant look as I made a few steps forward. She was a narrow woman, with dirty blond hair done in a bowl-cut.

"Can I help you, Mr…?" She was fishing for a name.

"Sasuke Uchiha." I said, giving her a nod. "I'm—"

"—The new student, yes." Blackwell said, motioning for me to sit. "I've heard all about you from Ms. Hearsum. You're early."

"Time waits for no one." I said reasonably. "And I'm already far behind, as it is."

"Quite." She said, not really knowing quite to make of me, pulling her drawer open and grabbing a few files. "I have been informed as to what happened. I hope they find the ones who did this to you."

The words were as insincere as the tale I had created.

"Thank you." I made a significant glance to the papers she held in her hands.

She took the bait.

"I understand you're staying with Ms. Hebert and her father, is that correct?" She asked, reading over one of the papers.

"Yes." I nodded.

Silence lingered, for a moment, before she started speaking again.

"Do be careful, Mr. Uchiha." She warned. "That Taylor girl has been known to spin a few tall tales."

Taylor, who avoided speaking to anyone if she could help it, spinning tall tales? It was enough to almost make me laugh.

Almost.

"I'll keep that in mind." I said flatly, before leaning forward and pointedly changing the subject. "I'm frankly more interested in what I will be learning."

"Ah, yes." To her credit, Blackwell seemed somewhat abashed at the very subtle reprimand. She gathered her wits, and resumed the conversation. "We'll be working from the ground up. How to read, how to write, perhaps learn math, if you'll need it."

"Very well." I accepted, getting up abruptly. "May I be shown to the room in which I'm assigned? I'd like to begin immediately, if that's all right."

"I—Well— I'll take you there, myself." She finally decided on saying, trying to wrest control over the conversation without any luck.

"It would be appreciated." I gave her a polite incline of the head and waited for her to lead the way.

She obeyed.

She led me through the halls, down a set of stairs and turned to the right.

"Your teacher may not arrive for a while, still." Blackwell admitted, opening the door and gesturing me to go inside. "They're slated to start in.. fifteen minutes."

I went in, staring at the empty classroom for a few seconds, before turning to her and giving her a dismissive nod. "Thank you."

She gave me a strange look, before turning tail and leaving, closing the door behind her.

"What an unpleasant person." I said to myself before taking the front seat and assuming my brooding pose— elbows on the desk, chin lying just slightly above the back of my propped up hands, my fingers slightly entwined.

I waited until I heard the door open, and turned to see a somewhat short, black haired man in his mid-twenties, looking bored. His half lidded, brown eyes rested over my form for a second, before he went to the teacher's desk, setting his pack down and then addressing me.

"Sasuke, right?" He asked unnecessarily.

It wasn't like there was anyone else here.

I gave a nod of confirmation.

The man checked his watch. "You're here early. No matter. My name's John Hudson. I'm going to be your teacher for the foreseeable future."

"A pleasure." I said without meaning it.

"Well, since you're already here, do you mind if we start?" He asked, leaning on his desk and running a hand through his black locks.

"I have no objections." I said. In fact, I preferred to get down to it as soon as I could. I unzipped the bag, pulling out a pen and notepad, courtesy of Danny.

"Perfect. We'll be doing this in two periods. We'll study until lunch time, and then until the end of the school day. Of course, there will be short breaks within the periods, so you don't tired yourself out." He looked pleased, before frowning. "As for your current level, they told me we'll have to start you off from scratch, right? Basic reading and writing?"

I gave a nod.

"Hm. Perhaps some mathematics, too… Maybe throw in some basic sciences, geography, the works." The man mused before shaking his head. "We'll take it one step at a time." He turned to the board, and began to write down the same letters I'd seen everywhere around me.

I counted twenty-six of them, before he stopped.

"Let's start with reading and writing, for now." Mr. Hudson said, indicating at the letters on the board. "This is called the alphabet. I'll read each one out to you, and explain every single one. Ready?"

I nodded.

"The first one is 'a'…"

Before I knew it, the period was over. Hudson wasn't the strictest teacher I'd met, but he'd definitely noticed how quickly I'd taken to learning everything.

By the end of the second hour, I was already able to correctly read a few of the children's books he'd brought with him.

'Amazing' had been the word he'd used, if I remembered correctly. He'd apparently never met anyone who could grasp languages this quickly.

I had to stifle an amused eye roll at his comments. I already knew the spoken language— it was simply a matter of concentration, and matching letters with the words I was speaking.

Still, I weathered the man's compliments with a bored air, hoping he'd move on to the next thing. But he simply said that was enough; it was apparently lunch period.

I let him go, choosing instead to remain in the classroom and begin to practice my writing. The first half of the lunch break was spent writing any sentence I could think of, glaring at the paper every time I screwed a letter up, until I was able to write without making stupid errors.

The first thing I ever wrote was my name: "Sasuke Uchiha".

The second half was spent attempting to miniaturize my letters so that they were of a similar size to the letters I'd seen on those official papers— that's what the horizontal lines in the notepad were for, I imagined.

I wrote the exact same sentences, over and over, acclimating my hand to the movements. I got so caught up in it that I almost didn't notice the door opening, revealing my teacher.

"Don't tell me you stayed your entire lunch break in here, Sasuke." Mr. Hudson seemed disappointed as he approached. His disappointment disappeared alongside his eyebrows, which went so far up they were concealed by his bangs.

"You wrote all this?" The man said in amazement, grabbing my notepad and flipping through the pages.

"Yes." I confirmed.

"I— this is fantastic writing." He looked at me in awe. "How did you do it?"

A lesser known ability of the Sharingan was the forced memorization of anything I laid my eyes upon. Essentially, it gifted the user with photographic memory— a memory I had no qualms abusing to quicken the learning process."

"It all seemed very familiar to me." I threw out the convenient excuse. "Once I started practicing, it was like I'd known how to do it for years."

Which wasn't too far from the truth, really.

"I see." The man said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a medium sized, green book, holding it out to me. "Try and read some of this."

I took the offered book and glanced at the title.

"Darkest Days by Ralf Reyo." I read out loud, and checked the back. "Chased by the police, continually attacked by her enemies, and hated by her former allies, Maude must turn inward for power, or suffer a fate worse than death."

Hudson read cheap action novels, huh? Interesting to know.

"Remarkable." The man looked at me in sheer disbelief as I handed the book back. "You've gained an expert's grasp of the language within hours of first learning the letters. I can't believe it."

Naruto would have shouted 'BELIEVE IT' at that, wouldn't he have?

"I doubt it's anywhere near expert level." I denied with a shake of my head, before opening the book and checking the table of contexts, focusing on the second chapter. "Here's an example. I'm guessing that's the number two, but its lettering is odd. I would have assumed it was 'T O O', rather than 'T W O'. And, you never said that 'T H' forms a letter of its own…"

The man's amazed gaze didn't slip, but it did turn thoughtful.

"I suppose that's to be expected." He smiled ruefully, still confused at the sheer progress I made. "Very well; we'll do something a little more complex— would you mind waiting for a bit? I didn't bring any books on grammar, homonyms and the like. I'll have to borrow them from the library."

Anything to get this over with quickly.

"That sounds acceptable. May I have a dictionary, as well?"

Hours later, I exited the classroom with a heavier backpack, the fascinated teacher walking behind me.

"You know, Sasuke." Hudson got my attention. "I honestly didn't expect that you'd progress so quickly." He stopped for a moment, realizing how it might have sounded. "That's not to say that you're not smart, or anything; but new languages are something that most people have trouble grasping, especially as they get older. What you did was nothing short of amazing. Be proud of that."

I gave a half smile, and a nod. "Thank you."

"Same time tomorrow; I will cover some math, and some geography in the afternoon— I'd actually planned on the math for the second period, but you had progressed so quickly in your English that I had to see how far you could go." Mr. Hudson said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "If you manage to maintain this learning speed, you'll be at the level of the other kids in less than two weeks— far surpass them, even!"

He was acting a mite too excited. Was he planning something, or was this his natural excitement? I shrugged, deciding it didn't particularly matter. I'd been hailed a prodigy before. It wasn't something I cared about.

I gave him one final nod, before making my way to the entrance, following the herd of students through the halls, towards the security station. I passed through without a fuss, and looked around for Taylor.

No sign of her— oh, there she was. Three girls stood around her, covering her avenues of escape, leaving her with her back against the wall.

Ah, the bullies that her father had spoken of; this wouldn't do.

I threw a sideways look at the security guys who were too busy checking the kids leaving the school. Hm, so the three girls had picked the perfect time to strike. This was pre-meditated.

I made my way to them. Taylor noticed my approach before the other three did, though she didn't take her attention off of the three girls.

A wise move.

As I got closer, the girl on the right— a petite brunette with medium length brown hair and blue eyes— nudged the center girl, her sky blue pins which held her hair glinting in the sunlight.

She said something out of my range of hearing, pointing at me. The two other girls turned to address me. The middle one, obviously the brawn of the group, was a dark skinned, athletic girl with brown eyes. Outwardly, her face was set in an arrogant smirk, though I could tell from her body language that she underwent some form of training.

Odd, but not particularly impressive, I thought.

I took in the third girl as I got close enough to be within earshot of them.

It was a stunning redhead, with proportions most adult women would kill for.

"Emma, he's coming right here." The cutesy brunette said quietly, unaware that my hearing was better than they'd thought. "He's _cute_."

The redhead, Emma, I supposed, moved forward to greet me.

"Hey, there." She threw a radiant smile my way, one which would melt the heart of any she had used it on. "You're the new boy, right? What's your—"

I passed by her without a single word, as well as her other two flunkies, before reaching Taylor, who looked a mix of confused, wary, angry and amused at the turn of events.

"Ready to go?" I asked clearly.

Taylor gave me a heavy frown, as if considering my words, before nodding and making to leave. The brute of the small group got in her way.

"Don't think you'll be—" I stepped in her path and stared her down. She leaned forward threateningly. "Get out of the way, ABB wannabe. This has got nothing to do with you."

I merely raised a solitary eyebrow, showing her the faintest sliver of my amusement.

The redhead was speechless, still standing in the background, giving me a look of shock mixed with anger. Men didn't ignore her, did they? Well, there was a first time for everything.

I supposed, with a body like that, the average fool would be easily swayed.

But, I was no fool.

Girls wanted _me_ , not the other way around.

Perhaps it was conceited of me to admit this, but my Academy days spoke for themselves.

The dark skinned girl bristled at my nonchalant attitude.

Ah, she's got a Naruto complex, huh? The need for attention, that was so him— though he wouldn't look for attention by hurting others, it was similar enough... I could use that.

It was time to pull out one of my older tricks; I gave her the most dismissive look I could manage, before turning my back to her, facing Taylor instead.

Taylor was looking at me, as if trying to say "what the _fuck_ are you doing?"

"So, Taylor." I said in the exact same monotone, but somehow managing to sound _supremely bored_. "Shall we go? We're going to be late for the bus, at this rate."

"R-Right." The girl stuttered slightly.

I turned back towards the dark skinned girl, who looked furious at my casual dismissal of her. She seemed to be visibly holding herself back from hitting me— a quick survey of our surroundings showed that the security guys were showing an unusual amount of interest in us.

Ah, she didn't want to get caught.

"I won't forget this." She promised. "You'll regret doing that. You'll see."

"I'm sure." I replied in the same dismissive tone as before, brushing past the girl, Taylor quickly following. The walk to the bus station was spent in tense silence, even minutes after we'd left the school proper.

"Why?" She finally asked. She'd held the question in for quite a while.

I frowned, the question throwing me off slightly.

"Why?" I repeated.

"Why did you do that? Is this a trick?" She blurted, her face a mix of anger and relief. "What's in it for you, huh?"

"Nothing." I said simply, finally looking at her.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Taylor was quiet for the rest of the trip, though she kept glancing at me, her face alternating between hesitation, sadness, happiness, anger, hope, as well as other, unidentifiable emotions.

Such an odd girl, I thought.

 **ooooooo**

Well, that's that. My brain's fried.


	4. Baby Steps

**ooooooo**

 **Hit The Ground Running**

 **A Naruto/Worm Crossover**

 **By Zero Rewind**

 **ooooooo**

"God, would you just look at him?" A girl whispered to her friend as I passed them by in the hallways. "You think he'd go out with me?"

"I don't know, girl." Another answered. "Besides, we don't really know much about him."

" _I_ heard he's in a class, on his own." The redhead I'd blown off cut off whatever praise the others had. "He's probably _special_. Besides, he lives with _her,_ so he's probably a freak, too _._ "

She'd said 'special', but I was sure she meant 'retarded'.

'Still mad about being completely ignored, huh.' I thought in amusement as two other girls started arguing with her, driving the noise to irritating levels.

I suppressed the urge to palm my face as I made my way to the cafeteria. The fangirls were already rising.

It was my fifth day, here— a Friday, and I was already mostly through the school's sophomore curriculum. Having done far more advanced mathematics, physics and the like in the Academy, the course material here was a breeze.

That wasn't to say that I didn't learn anything. English, History and Geography ended up being quite the enlightening subjects.

Apparently I was in a country called the United States of America, and the city I resided in was located in the northeast. I'd also located the continent called 'Asia' on a map of the world— apparently that's where my 'people' were from.

A few trips to the library had yielded more definitive results. The language spoken in the Elemental Nations did exist here, in the country known as Japan. Said country was considered lost ground to the Endbringers, now, with its infrastructure almost completely gone.

I switched my focus to these Endbringers.

They'd appeared almost 20 years ago, causing destruction and devastation to any city they came to. They'd show up, destroy anything that came their way, whether it was humans, animals, or parahumans, and then leave.

Sometimes, if people were lucky, the beasts were forced back.

No one was ever able to kill them, though. Whenever it seemed the tide of the battle was turning, the Endbringers turned tail and ran, taking the time to recover until their next appearance.

Information on their abilities was scarce— I'd probably need to speak with those in the know to receive anything substantial. What little I'd gleaned from various texts and word of mouth was enough to tell me to be careful.

It was hard to say with any confidence whether or not I could defeat one. I would probably need Susanoo, at the very least, to deal with them. My Rinnegan could work to absorbing their Chakra –one of the eye's natural abilities. Though, whether these Endbringers –parahumans, too- actually used Chakra wasn't something I was aware of.

I stopped a few turns before the cafeteria to stare at my open hand, studying my Chakra levels. Two thirds in, it would be enough. Tonight, I would go out into the city and seek out these parahumans.

Someone prodded at my shoulder me from behind. Dismayed, but somewhat curious, I turned to see who'd done it.

It was one of the redhead's flunkies. I'd never actually tried to get the girl's name, or her two cohorts. It was unimportant.

I was tempted to just turn and leave, but she seemed harmless enough. I blinked at her, my gaze cool as a breeze in the ever chilly Land of Lightning.

She fidgeted under it.

"Um.." She nervously started, one hand fastened around her elbow as she gave me a hesitant look. "You're Sasuke, right?"

I kept staring, faintly amused.

"Dumb question." She blurted, shaking her head. "What I wanted to say was, are you free right now? We could have lunch together." She said quickly, blushing as she realized her mistake.

Was it a trap set up by her leader and the brute? She seemed somewhat nervous, though it was hard to say whether she was nervous about me catching onto what she's doing, or whether she actually wanted to have lunch with me.

"I am free." I confirmed, watching her expression shift into one of unbridled excitement. _That_ wasn't fake. "But why should I?"

The question punched a hole through her elation, bringing her back down to Earth. She seemed confused as she replied. "What do you mean?"

I gave her an almost bored gaze. "You're part of that group with the redhead, aren't you?"

She'd understood my implication. Her face got redder, and she looked away.

"I heard about what happened to Taylor." I continued calmly. "Apparently, you've been doing things like this for a while, now."

'Long enough for Taylor's demeanor to shift from quiet and reserved at home to paranoid, jumpy and frightened at school,' I thought. 'Her father said she used to be a happy girl, eager to please.'

The girl kept quiet; she didn't offer any words in defense, she didn't try to throw the blame elsewhere, but she didn't try and take any blame, either.

"I see." I said, and turned to walk.

"Wait!" She said. I turned my head.

"I-I..." She stammered, looking down. "They told me to talk to you to keep you busy. I think they plan to do something to Taylor."

'They', she was saying; not 'we'.

How odd.

"Where." It was not a question.

"It might already be done. I'm-"

"-Where? I will not ask you again." I turned and approached her slowly; dangerously.

She took a step back. "They were saying something about the girl's bathroom. It wasn't my idea, I swear!"

Wasn't her idea, but she was fine being part of the plan to distract me.

"We shall see." I made my way to the girl's bathroom, thoughts of lunch forgotten.

Too little, too late; halfway there, I spotted a drenched Taylor, angrily heading for the school's exit. I walked faster to intercept her, catching the smell of juice and soda.

"What happened?" I asked her, gently putting my hand on her shoulder. The awkward girl had grown on me over the past few days, despite both of our reservations. We'd found a certain similarity between the two of us.

"Just let it go, okay?" She said, pushing my hand away with her shoulder. "They'll just keep escalating if you keep stepping in. Don't you get it?"

I gave a minute frown. She was right; I didn't want to admit it, but she was right.

"I understand." I said, quietly. "Do you want me to accompany you home?"

She gave me another one of her disbelieving looks, before shaking her head and wiping at her eyes. "It's all right. I'll be fine, Sasuke."

I ended up accompanying her to the exit; she'd seemed annoyed, but I could tell that a good deal of the tension had left her, from that gesture alone.

I frowned at her form, slowly getting smaller as she exited the school premises. Seeing her hurt had also hurt me. I'd wanted to curse.

"I'm sorry." I heard from behind me.

I turned to see the same girl from before. Madi-something, that was her name? I never bothered learning it. I walked past her, like I did with her redheaded boss, but I stopped for a second.

"If you truly are sorry," I started, turning and giving her a disdainful look. "You will leave Taylor alone."

"B-but, my friends, they-"

I shook my head and headed back to the cafeteria, banishing all thoughts of the stupid, stuttering hanger-on from my mind. No sense in wasting my brain power on such nonsense.

I joined the line of kids and started piling food on my tray. I picked the least awful looking meal –the pizza- and a soda, before paying the lunch lady and taking a seat on an empty table. The pizza, a simple cheese, was very oily, but the food was filling, so I didn't complain.

Fortunately, there were no more interruptions-

Spoke too soon.

Someone took a seat beside me. I stifled the urge to bring the building down on everyone, and turned to see an Asian fellow, wearing a red and green shirt- the sign of the ABB gang that Danny had warned me about.

"Hey there." The kid said, extending a hand to me. "You're Sasuke, right? I'm Kenzo, and-"

"Beat it." I cut him off, going back to my food. "I've no interest in joining your gang."

The kid, Kenzo, opened his mouth and closed it as his hand clenched into a fist. Once, twice, three times. For a moment, I thought he'd storm off in anger, but I could only hope to be so lucky.

"You sure you want to go down that road?" The boy attempted to sound dangerous, lowering his arms. "You don't really know who it is exactly that you're pissing off, right? We're _the_ gang, here. No one else has as much power as us."

Hm. I gave him points for not immediately trying to hit me after I'd insulted.

" _The_ gang?" I repeated, finishing the last pizza piece and cracking open the soda, taking a small sip.

He nodded.

"Led by Lung, correct?" I continued, getting up. Kenzo got up as well, nodding.

"Hm." I pretended to give it some thought. "My answer remains the same. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

I made to leave, but Kenzo grabbed my shoulder.

"You don't know what you're doing, you fool. You wanna get your family killed just cause you don't wanna join?" He threatened, his grip tightening.

"I have no family." I said coldly and grabbed his wrist, squeezing just hard enough to almost crack the bone. "I can see that you're not too fond of your hand, putting it in reach of a possible enemy."

"You have no fucking idea who you're pissing off." Kenzo snarled, trying and failing to tear his wrist from my grasp. I let him go, watching as the momentum from his pull threw him back tripping over the seat and dropping on the ground, bringing down his tray full of food with him.

The students around him went quiet. A moment later, an amused snort filled the silence. Barely a second after that, the whole cafeteria erupted in booming laughter, drowning out whatever else the moron was about to say to me.

By the time he'd gotten over the pain, shock, and humiliation, I was already back to my classroom, poring over a book detailing the history of Japan –a fascinating country, I thought.

Apparently, Ninja had existed there at some point, as well as Samurai. Ninja acted more as spies than assassins, it seemed, choosing to hide under the guise of farmers and peasants. They used their disguises to spy on the local lords and their enforcers, as well as spread disinformation among their ranks, if needed.

The Samurai, on the other hand, served more as mercenaries –protection details, police force, even outright war between the lords. Though it was interesting, the history had not given me much detail. I was hoping the Ninja might have their own set of techniques, but it seemed like they didn't even know about Chakra.

Worse yet, it seemed everyone thought it was some nonsense priests and gurus liked to talk about; the seven 'Chakras', they preached, were energy centers located along the spine and ending in the brain. I'd checked the chart in question–utter nonsense.

It had been one of my remaining hopes that I would find some mention of a civilization resembling mine, but it was not to be. There were similarities, sure, but it was like saying a baby and a grown up were similar; both human, but the adult was capable of so much more.

I shook those thoughts off when the bell rang, Hudson entering the classroom once more, looking worse for wear.

"Made it." I heard the man's mutter, as he went to his desk and took a gulp of water from his bottle, before turning to me. "All right, Sasuke; I trust your lunch break went well?"

He didn't wait for me to answer. "I thought, for the rest of the day, we'd cover some more history."

I closed the book on Japanese history and put it away as Hudson began his lesson.

 **ooooooo**

I felt a bit parched when the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Hudson stopped my packing to tell me what exactly would be covered in the next week.

"You've done exceptionally well, Sasuke." Hudson praised. "And to think, on Monday, you didn't even know how to read."

I gave my usual reaction to the man's praise –that is to say, none. "My thanks."

He nodded, before gesturing at the door. "Go on then. Enjoy your weekend, you've earned a break."

I bid the man goodbye, and exited the classroom. The students seemed more rowdy, I noticed on my way out. It was probably because it was Friday. Two days of nothing ahead of them, they must've been excited.

I was searched by the security guys on the way out, but nothing was found. They let me through easily. I noticed the ABB thug, Kenzo, giving me the evil eye as he was stopped by the security guys, as well.

I made my way to the bus stop, my mind still on the boy's clumsy and foolish attempt at recruitment. Danny was right, these guys tried to recruit anyone that fit the bill of "Asian". Those who didn't join ended up suffering the consequences.

Obviously, I was in no true danger –you would need Madara or Kaguya to make me experience that telltale feeling of impending doom- but they _could_ target the Heberts and hold them hostage, in exchange for my cooperation.

It didn't sit right with me, letting something like that happen. Danny opened his home for me, without expecting anything in return. He had every reason to deny it, too. But, he'd accepted, and even tried to teach me a thing or two about the ins and outs of Brockton Bay.

Anyone that fucked with them would be fucking with me. As it was, a couple of thugs from a gang probably had no idea who it was that I lived with –hell, even if they did, they would need to follow me, or Taylor, home.

Good luck fooling my senses.

Speaking of senses, I detected several presences a ways behind me. I quickly glanced, expecting Kenzo and his goons, but was faintly surprised. It wasn't them; instead, it was a group of five kids of different skin colors.

Every single one was tall, and top heavy; the very definition of a brute. I recognized a few of their faces –I'd seen them passing me by in the hallways, though they were wearing sports gear, then.

The 'jocks', as the kids called them.

The dark skinned brute from the redhead's group was also present, slowly trailing behind them and keeping to the side in an attempt to hide under the shade and behind the various hedges.

It was funny; they all thought they were sneaky, but I was already fully aware of their presence.

It didn't take a genius to know what they were here for.

I could run, but they would likely give chase. If I ran faster than humanly possible, then my position in this world might be compromised. I calculated the possibilities for a second longer, before finally making a decision.

I would take them on.

I turned on my heel and walked straight towards them, hands in my pockets, an almost bored look on my face.

The sudden turnaround seemed to startle the five boys. My mouth twitched minutely at their reactions, but I was too far away for any of them to see it. They quickly got past their shock, thanks to their leader murmuring something to them.

I only caught part of what was said, but I could get the gist of it; apparently he'd made a quip about this saving them the time to follow me, which lifted the others' spirits.

I said nothing as the five guys finally reached me.

One of them cracked his knuckles in an attempt to be intimidating, which slightly amused me. These idiots were so out of their depth, and they didn't even know it.

I kept my hand in my pockets, coolly surveying the leader who began to speak.

"So I heard you dissed one of my friends." He started, taking a step forward, angling his body in a menacing way. The others emulated his move. "We're here to teach you a lesson."

"Is that so?" I kept my hands in my pockets, appearing careless to the world. "The odds seem a bit unfair, don't they?"

"Don't worry, little guy." The leader, a dark skinned fellow almost a foot taller than me, gave his mocking reassurance. "We won't rough you up too bad if you apologize to the lady."

I tilted my head in mock confusion. "You misunderstand. I meant that you'd need more men. Five isn't nearly enough to do much of anything, really."

Silence met my answer.

Then, a boisterous laugh came from the guy on the right. The others joined him shortly, the laughter infectious.

"Can you believe the balls on this guy?" The guy who'd first laughed shook his head in amusement. "Five on one, and he tells us that."

"He's all talk." The leader said dismissively, motioning for two of his guys to move. "You two hold him."

"Sure." They agreed easily, moving to grab me. Keeping my hands in my pockets, I stepped forward and planted my foot in the first one's solar plexus, before using my momentum to kick the other under his chin.

The effect was instantaneous. One dropped to his knees, mouth opening and closing like a fish before he dropped face first into the ground; while the other fell, back-first. Both were unconscious before they hit the ground.

The momentum of my kick spun me backwards, and I landed on my feet, hands still in my pockets. The whole exchange took less than a second.

Silence. Then—

"What the fuck!" The guy who'd laughed earlier had lost his jovial mood. "He took them out without even trying. Screw this noise, I didn't sign up to fight Bruce Lee!" He ran for it.

Soon after, the remainder fled, dragging their unconscious friends with them, screaming threats and obscenities my way, eventually leaving me to my own devices –well, I still had one audience member remaining.

The brute was hiding behind one of the tall hedges, still watching me through the branches. I looked right at her, smirking in a way I knew would piss her off, before turning and leaving.

I threw my hand up to say goodbye, adding to her humiliation. Minutes later, I boarded the bus, and headed towards my temporary home, thoughts of ineffectual bullies already gone.

Instead, I focused on this gang, the ABB— such a silly name. My little stunt likely pissed off one of its members, today. I would have to deal with them before things got out of hand. Though, what exactly could I do?

A show of strength could make those kids back off, like I'd dealt with those bullies, just now. Then again, they didn't answer to school principals, or whatever— these guys answered to the leader of the gang, Lung.

It was a sure thing that the gang leader would see this as a challenge to his authority and might, if the situation devolved any further. I briefly considered his known abilities.

Apparently, his power caused him to transform while fighting, eventually reaching a dragon-like form. That form was supposedly powerful enough to fight Leviathan on equal ground. He certainly sounded impressive, at least on paper.

However, the trick to beating him was simple enough; disable him before he got the chance to get to his full power. Obviously, I was only theorizing, but it seemed the logical step— not that I was planning on tangling with that particular man, tonight.

'As if anything ever goes to plan.' I thought after I got off the bus, making the walk to the Hebert residence. Entering the household, it became apparent that Danny wasn't even home— the only noise was the one in the basement.

I'd caught Taylor sneaking down there a few times in the past few nights; her steps were hard to miss in the middle of the night. I shrugged, neither willing, nor curious enough to invade the girl's privacy.

I set my backpack on the couch, noticing something on the table as I did so.

It was a note, left by Danny, which said:

"Coming in late tonight, don't wait up.  
-Danny"

I stared at it for a few moments, before heading to the kitchen and grabbing a bite to eat. Hm, there was a pot of spaghetti on the stove. It was still warm, by the feel of it.

I filled a plate and dug in with gusto.

It was actually quite convenient, come to think of it. I wouldn't have to tell the man what I was doing tonight. After finishing my food, I went to wash my hands, considering my next move as I did so.

It went without saying that I would need a disguise of some sort. I _could_ always use the Transformation Technique, but I would rather not expend any unnecessary Chakra- however minor the use might have been. I knew my Chakra was mostly recovered, but I didn't have the reserves Naruto did.

I shook my head, remembering the braindead moron's excessive, wasteful use of his Chakra. All of that power was completely wasted on him.

Taking a seat on the couch, I scratched my neck. To be honest, I only really needed to hide my face and hair. I entertained the idea of putting on a facemask like Kakashi for a moment, before scoffing at the very thought.

I'd tried to do it at some point, a bit after Team Seven's mission to Wave Country. The mask I'd worn was tight and constricting; I didn't know how Kakashi did it. I didn't want to know.

I ended up burning the mask to bury that little secret forever. I could only imagine how Naruto would have reacted, if he'd found out. Or worse, Kakashi; he'd have probably handed me his collection of porn or something.

Shinobi teachers were all mental cases.

I gave the matter some more thought as I left the house; I wished Nekobaa was here. She always had the best gear, suitable for any situation. Here, I doubted I'd find anyone willing to forge me a sword, let alone the shuriken I needed.

Actually, come to think of it…

I looked around the neighborhood, trying to find an out of the way place to try this. I walked around for a few minutes, before finally finding a small, obviously disused path with tall hedges on each side, growing uncontrollably.

The perfect spot to do something without being seen.

With a thought, my Rinnegan was activated.

That Madara could form those Chakra rods; he'd used them to bind the Second Hokage, right before he'd stabbed me in the heart.

My hand went to my chest— the pain of the wound a strong memory. Faced with my imminent death, I had been completely powerless. If it weren't for the Sage, as well as Kabuto's help, I would've been dead.

As much as I hated the bespectacled man, I would acknowledge that much, at least.

I concentrated on the feeling I had when I'd removed the black rods piercing Tobirama's reanimation.

A black metal rod erupted from my palm, as I expected. I scrutinized the object for a second, before breaking it off; the remainder was absorbed back into my body.

The drain on my Chakra wasn't insignificant, but it wasn't world shattering, either. I gripped the black spike, putting all my strength into it. It was unaffected; the metal was surprisingly sturdy.

I felt a connection with it, as well. These things could easily conduct my Chakra. Still, was I only able to form cylindrical objects?

I discarded the rod and held the ram seal for a few seconds, concentrating on the memory of my sword. The drain on my Chakra was stronger this time, but not nearly as bad as I was dreading. Out of my hand came a replica of my Sword of Kusanagi, scabbard and all.

Detaching it, I curiously pulled the blade out of the scabbard.

'Same width, same length, same weight; the only difference is that it's black.' I thought as I looked it over, smiling slightly after swinging it experimentally. I finally felt like I had something from home.

'That just leaves a disguise.' I mused as I headed back to the Hebert residence to check through my belongings. Entering the home, I quickly scanned my surroundings. From the sound of it, Taylor was still downstairs, hard at work at.. Whatever it was.

I sat down on the couch again, placing the sword next to me.

What sort of disguise could I use? I briefly considered creating a helmet with the Chakra rod technique, before shaking my head. Armor just wasn't my style. Speed and agility were my specialty, and using armor would ruin that.

I pulled up a zip hoodie from my pile of clothes.

'This can certainly conceal my hair.' I noted, frowning. 'Not my face, though.'

'Perhaps a thin mask to cover the upper half of my face?' I considered, holding my hand out and reactivating the Rinnegan, hands already formed in the ram seal. I held out my hand, concentrating on an old memory of mine.

A thin sheet of black metal came out of my palm, forming a half mask with ears- cat ears, to be precise. I'd modeled it after my brother's old Anbu mask. It would be my way of honoring him.

Nodding to myself, I grabbed the hoodie and the mask and went to the bathroom to try them out.

'I look stupid,' I realized, looking at my reflection. I was still wearing the pants and sneakers I used for school. The hoodie seemed to hide my hair fairly well, while the cat mask hid my nose and cheekbones; and, with my eyes activated, I looked fairly different than I did, normally.

'Well, at least it's not as stupid as those cat ears I had to wear in the past.' I was overwhelmed by nostalgia for a moment. I frowned and forced the thoughts down, for now. I checked outside the window; the light was dimming, but it was not yet night time.

Criminal elements tended to be predictable; they conducted most of their business at night. They had no other, real choice. During the day, the most they could probably get away with were a few relatively minor crimes; recruitment, drug dealing -of the 'harmless' sort- and the like.

At night, on the other hand, their operations went into overdrive, trying to get the most out of everything. I'd seen the same thing in the Elemental Nations, and this place was proving to share many of my home world's characteristics.

Despite the fact that the country I now resided in was considered to be the wisest, and most powerful in the world, I could easily tell that it suffered from the same issues.

Greed, corruption, apathy, hopelessness, and hatred… I'd already encountered those in spades, here. The people looked defeated; their city was going down the drain due to their nonexistent sea trade, and whatever hope they had remaining was being sucked dry by the gangs.

A harsh place to live in, to be sure. It was a surprise most people didn't turn out to be raving psychopathic murderers from the sheer stress of it all.

I looked out the window again, finally making a decision.

An hour later, I made for the docks, my sword and mask sealed in a Lightning Flash Blade Creation seal I'd placed on the piece of cloth tied into my right arm. To the regular observer, I was merely another civilian.

I explored the streets -memorizing the city map using Sharingan had made navigation quite easy- not quite seeing anything out of the ordinary. I went into an alleyway, pulling my hood up and unsealing the sword and mask, before running up the building's side.

I hopped from roof to roof, my eyes already activated and scanning everything. Minutes passed with no obvious results; it was to be expected. I stopped for a moment, noticing a nondescript van pull over by a small, run-down building that had obviously seen better days.

Two men exited, their posture screaming of aggression. They went to the back; one opened the doors, while the other stood back, hand moving to the weapon hanging in his pants- a pistol, I noted.

An impressive creation, all things considered, capable of launching metal projectiles three times faster than the speed of sound. Granted, they did not have the piercing potential of anything imbued with my Chidori, but they required little effort to use effectively, from what I could tell.

One simply had to aim, and pull the trigger. Training to master that was infinitely easier than all the effort I'd taken mastering my Shuriken techniques. I took slight comfort in the fact that you couldn't do any trick shots with a gun.

The first man came back out of the truck, dragging a small group of crying women. There was a barked warning, the other man slowly pulling the gun out, but not yet pointing it at them; a clear message.

The girls deflated, looking down as the two men led them inside.

My eyes flared with suppressed anger. I knew what I would be doing, tonight.

 **ooooooo**

 **Sasuke is about to tangle with the ABB~**


End file.
